France urges Iran to get specific in nuclear talks

Tag : Round Over Bit
Iran's foreign minister said on Thursday U.S.participation in nuclear talks was "positive", but France said bigpowers still wanted Tehran to make specific proposals to resolve adispute over Iran's nuclear work.
The United States said on Wednesday it was sending an envoy toGeneva to join nuclear talks with Iran for the first time, tounderline to the Islamic Republic and others that Washington wanteda diplomatic solution to the impasse.
"The American participation is positive," Iranian Foreign MinisterManouchehr Mottaki told a news conference in Damascus. "We lookforward to constructive engagement", he said, referring to a newround of talks in Geneva on Saturday.
Senior U.S. diplomat Williams Burns will join EU foreign policychief Javier Solana and officials from Britain, France, Germany,Russia and China for the talks.
The powers are seeking a more detailed Iranian response to theirenhanced offer of financial and diplomatic incentives to halt itssecretive nuclear activity that could yield atom bombs.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said the U.S. presencewould be "an additional asset" and that Iran's readiness for moretalks was encouraging despite its initially dismissive response tothe revised package.
"We are waiting for an opening," he told reporters in Englishoutside a European security meeting in Vienna.
"I talked to (Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr) Mottaki and hewas open, but open to what? That is always the case. We talk andtalk with the Iranians, but it's always disillusion."