Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Solana calls for US to hold direct talks with Iran on nuclear issue

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Brussels, April 28, IRNA
EU-Solana-Iran
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana encouraged the US administration to hold direct talks with Iran on issues consistent with Iranian nuclear program.

He advised Washington to solve problems of relations with Tehran and termed it as pre-requisite for resolving the dispute on nuclear program.

"It would be very difficult to solve completely the stability of the region and the nuclear issue," Solana told the Brussels Forum.

"Of course, I am not saying that tomorrow we have to change our policy. This is the forum for us to discuss ideas for the future, and the future maybe weeks or months or maybe more than months. I think the tendency should be in that direction," he said.

Speaking on the topic "From Beirut to Tehran: Can the US and Europe help stabilize the Middle East," he stressed that the EU and the US together cannot solve all the problems of the world today.

The EU foreign policy chief called on the US to open a "channel of communication" with Iran on everything.

"We have to see how much the US is willing to engage. I think at this point in time, to have also the U.S. opening a channel of communication with Iran will be worth thinking about," he said.

"I think that would be good. I am going to be talking to Washington in the next few days about that."

Iran is much more important today because other countries competing with Iran are down, he said.

Regarding the challenges of dealing with Iran, "we have many important hurdles to overcome," Solana said. "I think we have to be tenacious."

He described his talks with Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani in Ankara on Wednesday and Thursday as "constructive." "They were constructive conversations."

"We talked about many things, we talked about nuclear issue regional issues in which Iran has an important role to play." "It is very difficult to continue in a situation where Iran is considered a country with whom you cannot organize some sort of dialogue," he said.

He described Larijani as a sophisticated man, a philosopher by profession.

"You can engage with him in a rational manner," he said addressing the US administration.

Brussels Forum is an annual high-level meeting of the most influential American and European political, corporate, and intellectual leaders to address pressing challenges currently facing both sides of the Atlantic.

It is organsied by The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF).

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