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UNITED NATIONS - UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Thursday made a fresh appeal to Iran to comply with UN demands that it halt sensitive nuclear fuel work and urged all Middle East parties to pursue peaceful dialogue.
"I have been calling on Iranian authorities to fully comply with all relevant Security Council resolutions and continue their negotiations with European Union and concerned parties," he said on his return from a two-week, three-nation Asian tour.
A spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana refused to confirm Iranian press reports that he would visit the Iranian capital on July 19 to pursue talks on incentives offered by six major powers for Tehran to scale down its nuclear ambitions.
Iran on Wednesday test-fired its Shahab-3 long-range missile, which the Islamic republic says can reach Israel and US bases in the Gulf, and eight other more medium-range missiles.
The move sparked major concern in Western governments which say they fear Iran's nuclear drive is aimed at making atomic weapons, a charge that Tehran vehemently denies.
Thursday, Iran test-fired more weaponry as it continued war games, ignoring global concern over its launch of a broadside of missiles amid efforts to end the crisis over its nuclear program.
In his remarks, Ban also urged "all the parties concerned (with the) Middle East crisis (to) continue their peaceful dialogue so that we can see peace and stability in the Middle East." -AFP/vm
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