Sarkozy to meet Iranian FM on nuclear standoff
French president's office says meeting aimed at addressing possibility of restarting talks with Iran on nuclear proliferation
France's President Nicolas Sarkozy will meet Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Wednesday in Paris to try to revive international talks on Tehran's alleged nuclear weapons program.
"The meeting will allow us in particular to address the discussions the Six would like to restart with Iran on the question of nuclear proliferation," the presidency said, referring to the six-nation contact group on Iran.
Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States want to discuss Iran's nuclear program, which Western powers suspect hides a covert attempt to build a nuclear weapon in breach of arms control treaties.
Iran insists that it is merely seeking to build civilian nuclear power stations and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said last week that Tehran would only discuss the matter with the UN International Atomic Energy Agency.
Wednesday's meeting will be the first time that Sarkozy, who has repeatedly said the prospect of Iran having nuclear weapons was "unacceptable," has received a high-ranking Iran official in Paris.
Sarkozy is expected to discuss Iran with US President Barack Obama when he comes to France this weekend for commemorations of the D-Day allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France in 1944.
