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Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday that the United States would rebuff European efforts to bring it into negotiations with Iran aimed at preventing the Islamic state from developing nuclear weapons. Flying to Europe for her first trip abroad as secretary, she told reporters that the United States was confronting the theocratic government in Tehran in "a variety of ways" with "a variety of different partners" to end its nuclear weapons ambitions, support for Islamic extremism, interference in Iraq and human rights violations. Her unusually strong words signaled that the Bush administration would take a more robust stand against Iran during the president's second term. "It's not the absence of anybody's involvement that's keeping the Iranians from knowing what they need to do," Rice told reporters. "They need to live up to their obligations. They need to agree to verification and to stop trying to hide activities under cover of civilian nuclear power." Iran could emerge as one of the most contentious issues during Rice's premiere as the top U.S. diplomat, the first African American woman to hold that post. Her trip is intended on both sides of the Atlantic to help smooth relations that were damaged by disagreements over the invasion of Iraq and other Middle East issues. She will also prepare the way for a European trip by President Bush later this month. Three European nations -- Britain, France and Germany -- have been negotiating with Iran since 2003 over a deal to ensure that its legal nuclear energy program is not subverted to develop weapons of mass destruction. [more]

South Korea Updates War Plan Vs. North: U.S. Would Dispatch 690,000 Troops and 2,000 Warplanes if War Breaks Out in Korea, South Korea Says [more]