The United States on Friday welcomed an agreement by Iran and
the European Union to resume talks over Iran's nuclear program.
Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani and European Union
foreign policy chief Javier Solana agreed during a phone talk on
Thursday to resume nuclear talks on April 25.
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"Certainly we support those continued contacts between Mr Solana
and Mr Larijani," State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey
said.
"What we would hope would come out of that meeting would be an
agreement by the Iranians to meet the very simple terms and
conditions laid out by the international community that would allow
us to begin negotiations with them on their nuclear program," Casey
said.
The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted on March
24 a new resolution with tougher sanctions to pressure Iran to
suspend uranium enrichment activities.
Iran has refused to heed the Security Council's demand,
insisting that its nuclear programs are for peaceful purposes
only.
The United States and its Western allies have accused Iran of
trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of its civilian
nuclear programs.
(Xinhua News Agency April 21, 2007)
