"When we talk about engagement with Iran, our goal remains the same, to dissuade and prevent Iran from acquiring
nuclear weapons and continuing to fund terrorism," Clinton told Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. That is the goal "of any tactic we employ," she said.
The top US diplomat also announced that her country would be sending two officials to Syria to explore "bilateral
issues". "We have no way to predict what the future of our relations might be, but we want to engage in a discussion,"
Clinton
said.
The US under the Bush administration had shunned both Iran and Syria but President Barack Obama during his election
campaign vowed to engage them in order to work out a solution to the problems in the Middle East.
Obama had earlier said that US wishes to politically engage with Iran to find solution to the nuclear standoff.
