BELLGIUM: EU policy chief Javier Solana urges US to open direct talks with Iran

EU policy chief Javier Solana says Iran is ready for open talks with the United States, and he urges the US to take up the opportunity. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana urged the United States on Friday (April 27) to speak directly to Iran over its disputed nuclear programme, saying he was sure Tehran was ready for such talks. "I think at this point in time, to have also the United States open a channel of communication with Iran will be worth thinking about," he told a debate at a Brussels forum on transatlantic relations. "It is very difficult to continue in a situation where Iran is considered a country with whom you cannot organise some sort of dialogue." He was speaking after two days of talks with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani. Asked if he thought Iran's Larijani and the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei behind him, were ready to allow talks with the United States, Solana answered: "I say without any hesitation, yes." Solana said we would speak to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rica on Sunday (April 29). Iran says it is developing nuclear technology for power generation, but the West fears it is trying to build a bomb.

ITN Source | April 28, 2007

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