CORFU, Greece, June 28 (Xinhua) -- European Union (EU) foreign and security policy chief Javier Solana on Sunday said that the West hopes to restart talks with Iran on its nuclear program soon.
"We would like very much that soon we would have the possibility to restart the multilateral talks with Iran on the important issue," Solana told reporters at an informal meeting of foreign ministers of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
The EU will continue to say what it have to say about the Iranian government's behavior vis-a-vis the people, Solana said.
The EU has repeatedly expressed concern about post-election violence against Iranian demonstrators and called on the Iranian authorities to respect freedom of expression.
Solana said the EU would like to see how the situation would finally get stabilized and to seek engagement with the Iranian authorities on the nuclear issue.
He refused to say whether he has had any contacts with the Iranian government since the presidential elections in mid-June.
He said the OSCE foreign ministers will have an informal exchange of views on Iran on Sunday.
The foreign ministers of the Group of Eight (G8) major industrialized nations on Saturday confirmed their commitment to a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear issue.
"We remain committed to finding a diplomatic solution to the issue of Iran's nuclear program and support renewed efforts to that effect, such as the readiness of the United States to enter into direct talks and the invitation from China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States to Iran to restart negotiations,
as well as the constructive involvement of other G8 partners in the process," a statement of the G8 foreign ministers said.
They urged Iran to seize the opportunity to give diplomacy a chance to find a negotiated solution to the nuclear issue.
The West suspects that Iran's nuclear program is intended for nuclear weapons. But Iran has claimed that it is for peaceful purposes only.
