German chancellor says Tehran poses threat not just to Israel, but to whole world, yet political solutions have not been exhausted.
By REUTERSAngela Merkel 521(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
A political solution in the standoff over Iran's nuclear program is still possible, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday, but she added Tehran posed a threat not just to Israel but to the whole world."I support a political solution ... and I believe that we are not at the point where the search for political solutions has been exhausted," she told a news conference in Berlin.The European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton will meet Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili in Istanbul on Tuesday, a spokeswoman for Ashton said on Monday.Further, the UN atomic watchdog will hold additional talks with Iran aimed at clarifying concerns about its nuclear program, despite the lack of progress so far, its chief Yukiya Amano said on Monday.The International Atomic Energy Agency is "firmly committed" to intensifying dialogue with the Islamic state, Amano told the IAEA's annual member state gathering.Click here for full Jpost coverage of the Iranian threatHe gave no date for a possible new round of talks that began in January between IAEA officials and Iran aimed at allaying concern Tehran may be developing nuclear weapons capability, a charge Iran denies. The last meeting was in August.Iran's atomic energy chief, Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani, was due to address the IAEA meeting later on Monday.
