Talks on Iran nuclear issue to resume

BRUSSELS - The six world powers that used to engage in Iran nuclear talks have accepted an Iranian offer to revive negotiations after months of stalemate, the European Union's top diplomat said Tuesday.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said she received a letter in February from Iran's nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, who said Tehran wanted to reopen negotiations with the six powers -- the three EU countries of France, Britain and Germany plus China, Russia and the United States.

Ashton said she had accepted on behalf of the six countries the offer to resume talks in her reply to Jalili's letter. However, the date and venue for the talks are yet to be decided, she said.

"We hope that Iran will now enter a sustained process of constructive dialogue which will deliver real progress in resolving the international community's long-standing concerns on its nuclear program," she said.

Ashton's announcement came at a time when Israel is threatening to bomb suspected Iranian nuclear sites, which Israel said may be related to the development of nuclear weapons.

Israel said time is running out for such pre-emptive strike, amid allegations that Iran was moving some nuclear facilities into underground bunkers, which would make them impossible to destroy by Israel on its own.

In a bid to seek US support for attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to Washington to meet US President Barack Obama but seemed to fail to get the backing he desired.

Obama said the United States would not rule out using force against Iran and would always be a strong ally of Israel, but he believed there's no clear evidence to the military dimension of Iran's nuclear program and the issue could still be resolved diplomatically.

In a Tuesday speech, Obama also slammed Republican presidential candidates for clamoring for war against Iran, saying the United States has seen the heavy prices paid for wars and such "casual talks" of launching a war is irresponsible.

However, the West did not hesitate to tighten economic sanctions on Iran so as to "curb" its nuclear ambition.

Reports said US lawmakers are working on legislation to expand US sanctions to every Iranian bank. More than 20 Iranian banks are currently subject to US sanctions.

The legislation would also impose sanctions on government-owned foreign financial institutions, including foreign central banks, that would engage in transactions, oil or non-oil, with Iran. Under current US law, those institutions will be punished for oil purchases only.

The last round of nuclear talks between Iran and the six countries held in January 2011 in Istanbul produced on concrete results.