Iran said on Friday EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana had urged the Islamic state to hold fresh talks to remove remaining concerns over its disputed nuclear programme, the students' news agency ISNA reported. It said Solana, in a letter addressed to Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, said the major powers wanted to resolve the dispute through diplomacy.
The letter was handed to Iran's embassy in Brussels on Thursday. "In the letter Solana wanted fresh talks to remove minor outstanding issues about Iran's nuclear work. Solana also insisted on his commitment to resolve the issue through diplomacy," ISNA said.
The West fears the Islamic Republic, the world's fourth-largest oil producer, is seeking to build nuclear arms. Iran says it only wants to generate electricity and has repeatedly ruled out halting uranium enrichment, which can have both civilian and military purposes. Its refusal to do so has drawn three rounds of UN sanctions since 2006.
An EU official said Solana had mentioned the letter. "Solana mentioned to EU deputies this week that he had sent a letter to Iran," the official told Reuters in Brussels. He gave no further details.
Solana, representing the United States, Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia, and Jalili last discussed Tehran's nuclear programme by telephone in August. The six powers offered in June to hold off from seeking further sanctions if Iran freezes expansion of its nuclear work. Iran responded with a non-committal letter and Western countries said they would look at stepping up sanctions on Tehran.
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