TEHRAN, 13 June 2006 — Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said yesterday he hoped for a speedy resolution of the crisis over Iran’s nuclear program. “We hope this crisis is solved as soon as possible,” he told a joint news conference with his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki.

Saud said he was satisfied with what Mottaki had told him about the nuclear file. “He told me that Iran has a positive view and is examining the content of the proposals” offered to Tehran, he added.

Britain, France, Germany, the United States, Russia and China last week offered Iran incentives and multilateral talks if it agreed to freeze uranium enrichment, at the center of fears the country could acquire atomic weapons.

“We respect the right of the countries to have peaceful nuclear technology, but Saudi Arabia considers the possession of the weapons of mass destruction not in the interest of the region,” Saud said.

He refused to talk about the content of a message he later delivered to Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei from Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah.

During his one-day visit, Saud also met with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The Saudi minister’s visit coincided with a meeting of the governing board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna. The head of the UN nuclear watchdog said Iran was still resisting investigation into its disputed atomic program.

“I would continue to urge Iran to provide the cooperation needed to resolve these issues,” IAEA Director Mohamed El-Baradei told the meeting. “I remain convinced that the way forward lies through dialogue and mutual accommodation.”

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who visited Tehran last week to hand over the package of trade, technological and security incentives for Iran to halt nuclear fuel work, said he expected a response soon.

Solana, speaking to reporters at an EU foreign ministers’ meeting in Luxembourg, said he hoped for contact with Tehran, at least privately, by the weekend.

A US State Department official, who asked not to be identified, said Iran must not be allowed to mull over the offer endlessly while expanding a pilot uranium-enrichment program until it becomes a fait accompli.

“We cannot let Iran consider these terms indefinitely, saying they are prepared to enter negotiations but at the same time just continuing their nuclear activities,” he told reporters outside the IAEA board session in Vienna.

Diplomats said the 35-nation IAEA board would debate Iran but pass no resolutions, to avoid any diplomatic snafu while Tehran considered an answer to the big power initiative.

The United States is trying to keep non-aligned states at the IAEA from issuing a statement backing Iran’s claims that it has a right to uranium enrichment.

“People will be watching the NAM statement to see how positive or negative they are,” said a European diplomat, who stressed the delicacy of current diplomacy.