Mottaki to address EP, meet Solana

February 18, 2006 - 0:0
Brussels (Agencies) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki will address the European Parliament in Brussels Monday following an invitation by the chairman of the EP's Foreign Affairs Committee, Elmar Brok.

He is also expected to meet the European foreign policy chief Javier Solana next week, Solana's office said on Friday, AFP reported.

Sources in Brok's office told IRNA in Brussels Thursday that Brok had extended an invitation to Mottaki to speak before the committee last year in November.

The sources noted that the committee is the largest committee in the EP.

Mottaki on his upcoming first visit to Brussels since he became foreign minister is expected to meet other EU officials.

The Iranian minister and Solana are expected to hold talks on Monday during a visit Mottaki is making to address the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee, but Solana's office could not give a timing for a meeting.

The EU has been trying to offer political and trade incentives to Iran in exchange for it giving up its efforts to enrich uranium.

But the talks collapsed last month after Iran resumed its atomic activities.

The meeting between Mottaki and Solana was announced after Tehran confirmed earlier on Friday that it had injected gas into centrifuges, a crucial step in the process of uranium enrichment.