The United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, has called for a renewed diplomatic initiative to resolve the crisis over Iran's nuclear programme.
Speaking at the summit of European and Latin American countries in Vienna, Mr Annan said the US should join European countries to hold new talks with Iran.
He also called on all sides to tone down their rhetoric and to intensify efforts to reach a negotiated settlement.
In the latest effort to resolve the crisis, Britain, France and Germany, with backing from the US, Russia and China, are to unveil in the next ten days a package of inducements and penalties for Iran.
While Iran insists it wants only to enrich uranium as nuclear energy for its economy, western leaders suspect that programme could be a front for an atomic bomb project.
