(CNSNews.com) – A high-profile Iranian politician will attend a security conference in Germany this week, but he says he has no plans to meet there with members of a U.S. delegation that will be led by Vice President Joe Biden.
 
Ali Larijani, a former nuclear negotiator now serving as parliamentary speaker, said Tehran had yet to see the “new approach” offered by Washington. President Obama pledged while campaigning to talk with Iran without preconditions. Since taking office, he has expressed willingness to engage with Iranian leaders who “unclench their fist.”
 
Iran’s Press TV quoted Larijani as ruling out talking to the Americans in Germany. The February 6-8 conference in Munich will focus on disarmament, energy supplies and regional security, and Larijani said his contribution would be limited to those subjects.
 
Earlier, word from the organizers of the 45th Munich Conference on Security Policy that a “high-ranking” figure from Tehran would attend stoked speculation about possible contact between the Iranian and American sides, particularly in the light of the U.S. decision to send the vice president.
 
The annual conference usually draws foreign and defense ministers from key Western states and Russia, and it typically allows for considerable informal discussion among participants.
 
“The fact that the new American administration has decided to make their first appearance in foreign and security issues outside the United States, represented by their vice president in Munich, speaks for itself,” conference host Wolfgang Ischinger, a former ambassador to the U.S. and Britain, told reporters.
 
“I consider this a significant signal, and I cannot conceal my pleasure and satisfaction.”
 
Tehran confirmed at the weekend that Iran would be represented by Larijani, who will be accompanied by Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.
 
A rival of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Larijani had been expected to run against the incumbent in presidential elections scheduled for June 2009, but late last year he ruled it out. Ahmadinejad likely will face reformists who have been critical of his handling of the economy and controversial foreign policies and rhetoric.
 
While a far less polarizing figure than Ahmadinejad, Larijani is a conservative hardliner and a close advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

He told a news conference in Tehran on Monday that if Western governments wanted Iran to give up the expertise it has developed in the nuclear field, “they are talking nonsense.”
 
It was for those powers to “give up their preconditions” if they wished to hold talks with Iran, Larijani said. Iran denies Western allegations that its civilian nuclear program is a cover for developing a weapons capability.
 
The six countries involved in a long running effort to defuse the nuclear row – U.N. Security Council permanent members U.S., Britain, France, Russia and China plus Germany – will this week hold their first meeting since Obama’s administration began. The so-called P5+1 talks will take place in Frankfurt on Wednesday.
 
Key regional factor
 
Last week, when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that the U.S. would attend the multilateral talks, she spoke about a clear opportunity for the Iranians to show “willingness to engage meaningfully.”
 
Borrowing Obama’s phrase, she said whether the Iranians’ hands become “less clenched” was up to them.
 
Iran has positioned itself as a key player in the region not only because of the nuclear issue but also due to its potential to influence – for good or ill – the political and security situations in Iraq and in Afghanistan, where Obama has pledged to send more troops and more resources to tackle a costly Taliban insurgency.
 
U.S. Central Command chief Gen. David Petraeus, who will accompany Biden to Munich, told a panel discussion in Washington last month that stabilizing Afghanistan would require a “regional strategy” that may at some point include Iran.
 
NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer echoed the sentiment last week, telling a seminar in Brussels that the alliance needed to adopt a “pragmatic approach” to solve the Afghanistan challenge that included bringing in “all the relevant regional players,” including Iran.
 
Afghanistan and the NATO mission there will feature strongly at the Munich conference, and Afghan President Hamid Karzai is also scheduled to participate.
 
The Obama administration’s efforts to promote peace between Israel and its neighbors will also have to take into account the Iranian factor, given Tehran’s hostility towards Israel, its strategic alliance with Syria, and its backing for Shi’ite Hezbollah in Lebanon and Sunni Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Iran’s contribution to regional tensions were underlined this week when Damascus-based Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal paid a visit to thank Iran for its support during Israel’s 22-day military offensive and to urge ongoing help.
 
Meshaal, who was warmly received by Khamenei and Ahmadinejad, said Iran shared what he described as Hamas’ “victory” over Israel.
 
Israeli leaders have accused Iran of fighting a proxy war against the Jewish state through its Hezbollah and Hamas allies.
 
Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu, the favorite to head the next Israeli government after Feb. 10 elections, said last week that the Iranian leadership should be “neutralized.” He also said preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons would be his top priority as prime minister.