Iranian media say the European Union's foreign policy chief is urging
Iran to hold more talks with the bloc to clarify a few remaining issues
about its nuclear program.
The Iranian Students News Agency,
ISNA, says the EU's Javier Solana made the request in a letter to
Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili.
ISNA says
Solana's letter is in response to a letter last month in which Jalili
complained that Western pressure on Iran has harmed talks about Iran's
atomic activities.
Solana and Jalili last discussed Iran's nuclear program in August.
Meanwhile,
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said his nation is convinced Iran
is seeking nuclear weapons. He said Israel is not taking any option
off the table, and recommended that other countries follow its lead.
His comments are widely seen as keeping open the possibility of a preemptive strike against Tehran.
The
United States and its Western allies accuse Iran of working to produce
a nuclear weapon. Iran says its atomic program is intended solely to
generate electricity.
Iran's Fars news agency Friday says a
senior Iranian official is calling on U.S. President-elect Barack Obama
to lift U.S. sanctions on Iran. Prosecutor General Qorban Ali Dorri
Najafabadi is quoted as saying ending sanctions would prove Mr. Obama's
goodwill to the Iranian people.
Iran is under various
sanctions imposed by Washington, as well as three sets of restrictions
placed by the United Nations Security Council.
Some information for this report was provided by AP.
