US to Attend G8 Meeting alongside Iran

US to Attend G8 Meeting alongside Iran
The US State Department confirmed on Friday that the country's Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will attend a meeting of the Group of Eight foreign ministers in Italy at the end of June.

"Yes, the secretary will attend," said State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley.

The US announcement came a day after the Italian Foreign Ministry extended an invitation to the Islamic Republic of Iran to attend the G-8 foreign ministerial meeting in Trieste, port city north of Italy, on June 25-27.

"Iran is invited to the conference, yes," said Italy's special envoy for Afghanistan Sergio Mercuri whose country currently holds the G8 presidency.

The two-day conference aims to promote peace and stability in Afghanistan with the help of its neighbors including Iran.

Washington has backed Tehran's participation in the G8 meeting on Afghanistan and Pakistan this month.

Earlier in May, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said that Clinton was in favor of inviting Iran to the meeting.

Also in March, Tehran was invited to an international conference on Afghanistan at The Hague.

Washington has shown desire to reach out to Tehran to tackle problems facing Afghanistan, including the growing strength of Taliban militants across the war-torn country.

Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta has also welcomed the presence of Iran at the meeting on Afghanistan.

US pressing Nabucco scheme sans Iran

The US has made it clear that it does not support Iran's involvement in the Nabucco gas pipeline until Tehran 'changes its policies'.

Richard Morningstar, the US special envoy for Eurasian energy issues, said that Iran can only join the gas pipeline undertaking after the normalization of ties between Tehran and Washington.

He told a group of reporters in Ankara on Thursday that inviting Iran to the project without a resolution to the standoff over its nuclear program could "have a negative effect."

"We don't want to change our policy unless Iran changes its policy," AP quoted Morningstar as saying.

The pipeline is to link the Caspian Sea region, the Middle East and Egypt to the European Union via Turkey.

The Nabucco consortium, which aims at decreasing Europe's dependence on Russian natural gas, has been unable to find sufficient gas supplies necessary for the feasibility of the project.

Turkey, which is a member of the consortium, has repeatedly voiced its support for Iran's involvement in the project.