UN Chief: "Direct US-Iran dialogue is a must"

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan urged the United States on Thursday to enter direct talks with Iran over Tehran's nuclear ambitions, saying that this step could lead to an acceptable resolution of the crisis.

Annan said that the Iranians may have been holding back in previous negotiations with European Union powers Britain, France and Germany, and might be more forthcoming if the United States were at the table. He made the suggestion in an interview on The News Hour with Jim Lehrer on US public television stations.

"If everybody - all stakeholders and key players - were around the table, I think it would be possible to work out a package that would satisfy the concerns of everybody," Annan said when asked whether it was time for the United States to get involved in direct talks.

"Should they (mullahs) be offered a diplomatic package allowing them to pursue nuclear energy for peaceful ends and they resist that, how do they explain it to the world?" he asked.

Earlier in Azerbaijan's capital Baku, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed on Friday that the country would pursue its nuclear programme until it could mass-produce atomic fuel, and branded those trying to stop it as "bullies".

/www.iranian.ws/