German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday that she wanted next week’s G8 summit to send a message to Iran. She also wanted to keep talks open on its nuclear program.
The Group of Eight (G8) will meet on July 8-10 in L’Aquila, Italy and is expected to discuss the Iranian presidential election results and accompanied demonstrations.
“I hope the meeting sends a strong message of unity, a united message that the right to demonstrate and human rights cannot be separated and that they apply to Iran,” Merkel said to the Bundestag lower house of parliament.
“I strongly support President Obama's offer to Iran of direct talks. We will accompany this in a united way. We cannot drop the issue of a nuclear-armed Iran just because of the current situation. That would be completely wrong,” she added.
The post-election violence has left twenty people killed and more than 1,000 injured so far.
© 2009 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
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