Powers invite Iran to engage in talks with US

World powers have urged Iran to take the opportunity to engage in talks with the US as a move to find a diplomatic solution to its nuclear issue. In a statement released on Wednesday after a meeting in London, the US, Russia, China, France, Germany and Britain said that they would ask the EU Foreign Policy Chief, Javier Solana, to invite Tehran to a meeting to find "a diplomatic solution to this critical issue", Reuters reported. The statement by the major world powers comes as US President Barack Obama has declared that Washington would participate in future talks on Iran's nuclear program. In a clear change of tone, the Obama administration said the United States would be ready to engage in direct talks on the nuclear issue. "We strongly urge Iran to take advantage of this opportunity to engage seriously with all of us in a spirit of mutual respect," the six powers said. An official in Solana's office has unveiled that contacts would be made with Tehran to arrange talks on the nuclear program. Negotiations with Iran are expected to begin within the next few weeks, a Western diplomat said. "What is different is that the US will join the ... discussions with Iran from now on," a US State Department spokesman said. "If Iran accepts ... we hope this will be the occasion to seriously engage Iran on how to break the logjam of recent years and work in a cooperative manner to resolve the outstanding international concerns about its nuclear program."