German FM reaffirms commitment to negotiated solution with Iran

Talking to the German ZDF public broadcasting network Sunday evening, Westerwelle said, "We want to negotiate and we want a solution via negotiations ..."

The German minister had over the weekend reaffirmed Iran's right to have a peaceful
nuclear program in his speech to the 46th Munich Security Conference.

"Iran has the entitled right to peaceful use of nuclear energy," Westerwelle
said.

He voiced hope that Tehran could reach a nuclear fuel swap agreement with the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), saying it would be "a step towards
establishing trust."

Westerwelle's remarks came in the wake of comments by his Iranian counterpart
Manouchehr Mottaki who expressed cautious optimism on achieving a nuclear fuel
exchange deal following his talks with the head of UN nuclear watchdog Yukiya
Amano in Munich on Saturday.

/Irna/