Iran offers nuclear tour, snubs the US

Iran invited diplomats from China, Russia and the European Union on an all-expenses paid tour of its nuclear facilities as it apparently tries to gather support ahead of a new round of talks over its nuclear program.

One country that didn't get an invite? The United States.

“There’s no invitation in our in-box,” US State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley told The New York Times.

Senior Iranian envoy Ali Asghar Soltanieh suggested a tour and meeting with high ranking officials the weekend of January 15 and 16, the AP reports. The tour would therefore come a couple weeks before talks between Iran, the permanent U.N. Security Council members and Germany. The talks are set for late January.

“At a minimum, it sounds as if Iran is trying to put a positive face on the discussions,” Gary Sick, Iran expert at Columbia University and a former senior US National Security Council official, told Reuters.

The United States dismissed the tour offer as a "clever ploy" aimed at distracting nations from Iran's responsibilities to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Iran's enrichment activities violate six UN Security Council resolutions.

“It won’t draw international attention away from the issues regarding Iran's nuclear program," Crowley said.

European diplomats said the invitation would not be accepted, if at all, until after the talks.

Read more on U.S. policy towards Iran from GlobalPost.