Italian Premier Romano Prodi said on Friday that Rome and Paris should work together to find a solution to current international tensions over Iran's nuclear programme.
Speaking at a joint press conference after a meeting with French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, Prodi noted that both nations had "interests, experience and relations" in the region.
Diplomatic cooperation in the Mideast could become "more intense" and could "extend to the Iranian problem", he said. Prodi's meeting with de Villepin came a day after the deadline set by the UN Security Council for Iran to stop work on its uranium enrichment programme expired.
Iran could face economic sanctions over its refusal to halt the research, which it says is aimed only at producing energy.
For the time being however, most European governments appear more keen to pursue a negotiated solution to the stand-off.
De Villepin said Tehran's position was "wholly unsatisfactory" but said the door should always be left open for dialogue.
He indicated that Italy - Iran's biggest trading partner along with Germany - could play a key role in negotiations. "Italy knows Iran well" and this knowledge could be "extremely useful," de Villepin said.
WILLING TO PLAY ROLE.
Italy's Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema said on Thursday that the country is willing to play a role if there is a chance of resuming negotiations with Iran. "We can help the international community by putting pressure on the Iranian government," he said. On Thursday, the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Iran had failed to meet the August 31 deadline for halting its controversial nuclear programme.
The UN body said Iran had in fact resumed enriching small amounts of uranium.
United States President George W.Bush has warned that there will be consequences for Iran's defiance.
Western leaders suspect Iran is working on a disguised weapons project.
Iran confirmed its position on Friday but also said it wanted to negotiate. The Security Council's July 31 resolution called for the adoption of "appropriate measures" - meaning commercial or diplomatic sanctions but not military force - if Iran did not suspend the programme.
The text of the resolution, however, requires further discussion before resorting to the application of sanctions. World powers are expected to meet next week to discuss the issue.
EU FOREIGN MINISTERS MEET.
European Union foreign ministers are meeting in Lappeenranta, Finland, this weekend for a summit expected to focus in part on Iran.
After informal talks there on Friday, D'Alema said he hoped the summit would produce a "common European position". It would be an essential point of reference," he said. Meanwhile, in the northern Italian town of Cernobbio, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres said he welcomed a call by the Arab League for generalised nuclear disarmament in the Middle East.
Describing the idea as a "good starting point", he said Iran should disarm first.
