Ex-Defense chief met with Tehran aide

Former Defense Secretary William J. Perry held a series of previously undisclosed meetings last year with a senior adviser to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to discuss Iran’s nuclear program, a person familiar with the back-channel talks said Thursday.

The person, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the topic, said the talks took place with Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi, Mr. Ahmadinejad’s closest aide, and were “discussions, not negotiations,” aimed at clarifying understanding of the two sides’ positions.

Former U.S. officials have had numerous conversations with Iranians over the years, but few, if any, with officials as influential as Mr. Samareh.

It was not clear whether Mr. Perry, a veteran statesman who also served as a Clinton administration troubleshooter on the North Korean nuclear program, was acting at the behest of the Bush administration or others. The Bush White House rejected several overtures for back-channel talks with Iranian officials in 2005 and 2006.

Mr. Perry was traveling and not available to comment, his office said.

The United States has accused Iran of developing a program that could give it nuclear weapons and supporting Arab militant groups. Iran denies that it is seeking weapons and says groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah are freedom fighters, not terrorists.

The talks were revealed as U.S. and European diplomats predicted that the Obama administration would not rush into high-level official meetings with Iran before the nation holds presidential elections in June. An aide to Mr. Ahmadinejad said Wednesday that the president will seek re-election.

The diplomats said the U.S. does not want to take actions that could boost Mr. Ahmadinejad’s chances.

An Iranian Web site, Yari News, first reported Thursday that talks between Mr. Perry and Mr. Samareh were “about to be held” in Europe. Mr. Samareh, speaking to the Fars News Agency in Iran, denied this.

The person familiar with so-called track-two diplomacy with Iran outside official channels said the talks already had taken place and that he feared that the revelation could prejudice further discussions.

A U.S. official declined to comment but said the administration was not ruling out any approach toward Tehran.

Diplomats involved in efforts to bring Tehran to the negotiating table said that the Obama administration, in keeping with the president’s campaign pledges, would seek talks, but at a level below president or secretary of state.

“Something is certainly in the works with regard to engagement, but I suspect it will be at a low level,” said a senior U.S. diplomat who declined to discuss the issue on the record because Iran policy is under review.

The State Department denied reports that the administration had written a letter to Iranian officials in response to Mr. Ahmadinejad’s letter congratulating President Obama on his election, but left open the prospect.

State Department spokesman Robert A. Wood said that “no one has tasked anybody within the administration to draft” such a letter.

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