Ping
Brussels wants US to engage Iran
Sunday, January 16, 2005
©2004 IranMania.com
LONDON, Jan 16 (IranMania) - A senior European Union official yesterday urged the Bush administration to join the EU in adopting a policy of engagement with regard to Iran, a view that has received unusual endorsement from a Washington group of prominent hawks and neoconservatives, FT reported.
Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the new EU external relations commissioner, said she was asking the US to adopt a "complementary approach".
On a day of meetings in Washington, she said: "Mutual cooperation is essential."
Meanwhile, the European Union was pleased at the positive atmosphere seen at revived trade talks with Iran held this week, an EU official said Friday. But comments by a top Iranian official on the country's nuclear drive were less well received, the official said on condition of anonymity.
"The Iranians showed themselves to be very engaged, very interested, the tone was very good," she told AFP. "What was important for these two days was the tone, not the substance."
The discussions with a 12-person Iranian delegation headed by a senior Foreign Ministry official took place on Wednesday for trade and economic cooperation, and covered political questions on Thursday.
http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=28750&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs