The US and other major powers said Wednesday they will invite Iran for direct talks on its nuclear activities. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana will be tasked with extending the invitation to Tehran, said a joint statement from the United States, China, France, Germany, Russia, Britain and the European Union.
According to the AP, the United States' allies welcomed the new direction of US policy towards Iran under President Barack Obama, and its decision to "join in any future meetings with representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran."
"We strongly urge Iran to take advantage of this opportunity to engage seriously with all of us in a spirit of mutual respect," they said after talks in London. "To that end, we shall ask (Solana) to extend an invitation to the Iranian government to meet representatives of the E3+3, so that together we may find a diplomatic solution to this critical issue.
"We reaffirm our unity of purpose and collective determination through direct diplomacy to resolve our shared concerns about Iran's nuclear programme, in line with the package proposals for cooperation with Iran."
The new statement added: "We recognise once again that Iran has the right to a civilian nuclear programme, but with that comes the responsibility to restore confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of its nuclear activities.
"We strongly urge Iran to take advantage of this opportunity to engage seriously with all of us in a spirit of mutual respect," they said.
