A top European envoy on Monday renewed an offer from six world powers to talk with Tehran over its nuclear ambitions, and a senior Iranian negotiator agreed to stay in contact in an effort to find common ground. European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana's telephone conversation with Ali Larijani, Tehran's top nuclear negotiator, was the first exchange between the representatives of Iran and the international community since the U.N. Security Council toughened its anti-Iran sanctions because of the Islamic republic's refusal to freeze uranium enrichment.Solana spokeswoman Cristina Gallach emphasized it was not a negotiating session but more a message to the Iranian side that the international community was interested in "renewing ... talks and solving in a negotiated matter" differences separating the sides. The conversation, which Gallach said lasted nearly an hour, came amid signs of impatience from Russia and China, Iran's traditional allies among the five permanent Security Council members.
The presidents of the two countries, whose resistance to tough penalties against Iran have forced the United States, France and Britain to accept watered down U.N. sanctions, jointly urged Tehran to fulfill council demands.