LONDON, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Britain welcomed on Wednesday a conditional offer proposed by the United States to join the European Union in direct talks with Iran on nuclear issue.

    "I warmly welcome the United States' proposal to join Britain, France and Germany in any new negotiations," British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said before meeting her international counterparts in Vienna on Thursday.

    In order to support the European goal to "present a serious andsubstantial offer of cooperation, we need the active support of other parties," she said.

    "The U.S. offer will, therefore, give added weight to the proposals which foreign ministers will be discussing in Vienna tomorrow. I urge Iran to respond positively to this opportunity," she added.

    U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Wednesday in Washington that the United States will join the EU in talks with Iran as soon as Iran fully and verifiably suspends uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities.

    Rice also recognized Iran's right to a civilian nuclear program"acceptable to the international community".

    She is set to depart later in the day for Vienna, where she will meet the five permanent members of the UN Security Council todiscuss the issue.

    In Brussels, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said in a statement that he welcomed Rice's remarks.

    "Direct U.S. participation would be the strongest and most positive signal of our common wish to reach an agreement with Iran," Solana said. Enditem