President Bush has endorsed European talks with Tehran over its nuclear program, and says Washington continues to view the development of nuclear weapons by Iran as unacceptable.
Following talks with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, Mr. Bush said he backs French, German and British efforts to convince Tehran to permanently halt all uranium-enrichment activities in exchange for economic concessions.
Foreign ministers from the European nations Monday said they hope the election of hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as Iran's president will not change the schedule for nuclear talks.
Mr. Ahmadinejad has said his country would hold talks with Britain, France and Germany, but Tehran will continue to insist it has a right to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, such as generating electricity.
Information for this report is provided by AP and AFP.
