By SPA,
Ankara, Turkey : Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ali Babacan encouraged dialogue to resolve the standoff over Tehran’s disputed nuclear program after meeting with U.S. National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley on Thursday.
Hadley’s visit to Turkey came two days before talks in Geneva in which a senior U.S. diplomat will for the first time join colleagues from other world powers at a meeting with Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator.
William Burns, the No. 3 U.S. diplomat, will attend talks with Iranian envoy Saeed Jalili in Switzerland on Saturday, the Associated Press reported.
Turkey believes Iran has the right to develop a peaceful nuclear energy program, but calls on Tehran to be transparent.
We want this issue to be handled through dialogue, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said at a news conference after meeting with Hadley, who also held talks with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Babacan said Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki would visit Ankara for talks Friday and the nuclear program would be on their agenda. Iran contends its nuclear program is only aimed at generating electricity.