US, Iranian Diplomats Talk One-on-One

The US says senior American and Iranian delegates have met one-on-one on the sidelines of a high-stakes gathering on Tehran's nuclear program. US Under Secretary of State William Burns met with Saeed Jalili, Tehran's chief negotiator during a lunch break today in seven-nation talks in Geneva today. 

It is the first known direct high-level meeting between Washington and Tehran in years of attempts to persuade Iran to freeze its uranium enrichment program. The US' willingness to talk one-on-one with Tehran during breaks also shows Washington's determination to keep the dialogue going. At the same time, the US has signaled it is already contemplating new and tighter sanctions on Tehran, reflecting expectations that the talks will end in failure. (More Iran stories.)