German FM ready to meet with Iran's nuclear officials
Deutsche Welle's Internet website on Saturday quoted Steinmeier as he was speaking on the sidelines of the EU foreign ministers meeting in Salzburg, Austria.
He said he would not prevent such a meeting with Iranian nuclear representatives.
The minister, moreover, said that Germany, France, Britain, the United States, Russia and China had reached an agreement during their meeting Friday night to take step-by-step measures to try to resolve the issue.
According to Deutsche Welle, as a first step the United Nations Security Council, reinforcing the stance of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), would call on Iran to give its replies to questions previously raised by the IAEA which it has not as yet replied.
EP official: U.S. dictated its Iran policy to Europe
Representative of German Green Party at the European Parliament Angelika Bar in an exclusive interview with 'Netz Zeitung' publication on Thursday said Europe let the U.S. dictate its Iran policy to it.
This means that the Europeans failed to adopt an independent stand and have reached an impasse, she said.
U.S. desire to fully isolate Iran could be interpreted as a move towards aggravating military crisis over the country, she said.
Given the failure of EU Troika to resolve Iran's nuclear standoff, she said the EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) Javier Solana should play a leading role in EU negotiations.
"The Europeans should put an end to their unconditional loyalty to Americans," she said.
As head of Iran Desk at the European Parliament, she said the UN Security Council should prevent aggravation of the current crisis while on the other hand, the Iranian officials should promptly reply to all questions posed by the IAEA and open the way for resumption of negotiations by putting an end to the ongoing war of words.
The Americans should actively take part in talks on Iran as they did in negotiations with North Korea, she said.