Premier Wen Jiabao and his German counterpart Chancellor Angela
Merkel held a phone conversation Tuesday afternoon and they
conferred on solving the Iranian nuclear issue through
negotiations, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
The two sides exchanged views on further developing Sino-German
relations and settling the Iranian nuclear issue through diplomatic
negotiations and with peaceful means, the ministry said.
A statement of the German government said the two leaders
discussed Iran's nuclear program "at length," and underscored their
common goal to find a solution to the nuclear problem with
diplomatic means.
The international community is stepping up efforts to persuade
Iran back to negotiations and suspend its nuclear activities.
European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana arrived in
Tehran late Monday with a new package agreed by the five permanent
members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany last
Thursday.
He met with Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani on
Tuesday and presented him the new six-nation proposal over the
disputed nuclear issue.
Larijani was quoted as saying that his two-hour meeting with
Solana was good. The Iranian side will study these proposals and
then give a formal response.
He said the new proposal over the country's disputed nuclear
issue contains "positive steps" and "ambiguities."
"We welcome the European will to resolve the issue through
dialogues and the two sides should have more negotiations again
after our careful study over the proposal," the top nuclear
negotiator was quoted as saying.
The new six-nation package contains economic and political
incentives, including talks with the United States, to encourage
Tehran to abandon uranium enrichment, and also the implicit threat
of UN sanctions if Iran doesn't comply.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also reasserted on the
weekend during a telephone conversation with United Nations
Secretary General Kofi Annan that Iran was ready to hold talks on
the nuclear program, adding that Iran preferred the negotiations to
be held democratically without any precondition or any threat.
During a phone conversation last Thursday, Chinese President Hu
Jintao told US President George W. Bush that he welcomed the US
stance on resolving the Iran nuclear issue through diplomatic means
and its willingness to join negotiations on the issue.
"China is ready to maintain contact and coordination with the US
and play a constructive role in resuming negotiations at an early
date," Hu was quoted by a Foreign Ministry statement as saying.
Bush told Hu that his country was determined to resolve the Iran
nuclear issue through diplomatic means. As long as Iran agreed to
suspend its uranium enrichment activities in verifiable ways, the
US would join relevant negotiations.
(Xinhua News Agency June 7, 2006)
