NEW YORK (JTA) — The United States is testing Iran’s diplomatic intentions but remains “clear-eyed” on Iran’s role as a state-sponsor of terror and exporter of extremism, said U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel.

“But foreign policy is not a zero-sum game,” he said. “If we can find ways to resolve disputes peacefully, we are wise to explore them.”

Hagel’s comments on Iranian nuclear negotiations came Thursday at the Anti-Defamation League’s centennial conference in New York. Hagel went on to introduce his predecessor, former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who received the ADL’s William & Naomi Gorowitz Service Award. Panetta, also a former CIA director, called for negotiations to determine Iran’s seriousness, while maintaining “healthy skepticism.”