State Department spokesperson Marie Harf would not directly address a question Wednesday about Iran's claim that the Obama administration has made five requests for a summit since Hassan Rowhani's election.
Harf instead stuck with the talking point that the U.S. continued to look for a diplomatic resolution.
"We've said in general that we are willing to meet one-on-one with the Iranians when they're ready to do so," she said. "I don't know about that specific comment that he made."
Q: Iran. President Rowhani said today that he has -- that Iran had received five requests for a summit from the U.S. since he was elected. Any comment on that?
HARF: I haven't seen those specific comments. I think we've repeatedly -- I've probably said it more than five times at this podium, but we've said in general that we are willing to meet one-on-one with the Iranians when they're ready to do so. I don't know about that specific comment that he made. We all know that the president spoke on Friday on the phone and that Secretary Kerry of course met with Foreign Minister Zarif at the U.N. last week. So we'll continue the discussions going forward about the appropriate way to engage. But as we've said, we are at a point where we think there is an opportunity for diplomacy, and we have an obligation to see where that opportunity might lead. And we're hopeful that we can continue working to get an diplomatic resolution to this issue going forward.
Q: He says that the U.S.-Iran rapprochement lately is worrying certain countries in the Gulf area. Anything the U.S. is doing to address those worries?
HARF: Well, without -- you didn't name any specific countries, but in general we work in the region with our allies and partners very closely.
I think we are all on the same page here with our partners in the region that Iran cannot be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon. We all have the same goal: That hasn't changed, so we'll continue working with our partners in the region to determine the best way to do that.
We have also been very clear that we all prefer a diplomatic resolution to this crisis, because while all options remain on the table, diplomacy is certainly the preferred one. So we're going to -- as I said repeatedly; this is my new catch phrase, I like -- you know, walk through this diplomatic door and see what lies on the other side, and we have an obligation to do that. But at the same time, the time for diplomacy is not unlimited. Those are the kinds of conversations we're going to keep having with our partners on this, because again, we are all committed to the same thing here. We all have the same end goal in mind.
Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told CBS earlier Wednesday the Iranians were not trustworthy, and she called Obama's five attempts to meet with Rowhani desperate.
"I do not think this regime has changed its ambitions," Rice said.