The five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany will hold talks this week in Berlin on Iran's continued defiance of demands to halt uranium enrichment, the US State Department said Tuesday, according to dpa. US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns departs Washington for Berlin Tuesday to participate in the discussions that will take place on the sidelines of G8 gathering in the German capital, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. The G8 gathering of the seven largest industrial countries plus Russia is to prepare for a foreign ministers meeting later this month and the summit in June in Heiligendamm, Germany. China, which is not a member of the G8, will join the discussions with Britain, France, Russia and the United States via videoconference, McCormack said. Iran refuses to comply with the Security Council to stop enriching uranium because of suspicions that Tehran could be using the process to develop nuclear weapons - charges Iran denies. The six countries are meeting to discuss upcoming talks between EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, McCormack said.
