Iranian official says he will negotiate with West

Iran's top security official, Ali Larijani, said Wednesday he would hold negotiations with Western officials over the country's controversial nuclear program during a security conference in Germany this weekend. His comments suggested Iran may be on a new diplomatic offensive in efforts to stave off sterner measures from the UN Security Council, should it fail to meet a 60-day deadline to suspend uranium enrichment that was imposed Dec. 23. "On the sidelines of the Munich conference, there will be some negotiations with Western parties," Larijani was quoted as saying by Iran's official IRNA news agency.