EU eager to restart talks with Iran

The European Union has delivered a letter to Iran offering to possibly renew talks with the Islamic republic over its disputed nuclear program, an EU spokeswoman told.

The EU-Iranian talks faltered last August after two years of negotiations.

On November 6, Iran made overtures to the EU to renew the talks and the action Sunday is in response to that, with the EU offering to "explore if there's enough common ground to renew the nuclear program talks," said the spokeswoman, an aide to EU foreign policy head Javier Solana.

The letter was sent on behalf of Solana and of the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany - the so-called "EU 3" - who previously had been involved in the talks.

No date has been set yet for an exploratory meeting between the EU and Iran.

The EU's letter Sunday was the result of internal EU discussions in recent days, and it was announced at the outset of the Euromediterranean Summit in Barcelona - which brings together leaders from the 25 EU nations and 10 mostly-Muslim Mediterranean rim nations stretching from Morocco to Turkey. The grouping also includes Israel and the Palestinians.

Iran insists that its program is for peaceful purposes and that it has a right to pursue nuclear power.

The United States and the EU have feared that Iran intends to build nuclear weapons and have threatened to take Iran to the Security Council over its uranium enrichment program, CNN reports.

V.Y.