. . .
Iran
We are concerned about the aftermath of Iranian Presidential elections. We fully respect the sovereignty of Iran. At the same time, we deplore post-electoral violence, which led to the loss of lives of Iranian civilians. We express our solidarity with those who have suffered repression while peacefully demonstrating and urge Iran to respect fundamental human rights, including freedom of expression, as ensured by the international treaties it has ratified. The crisis should be settled soon through democratic dialogue and peaceful means on the basis of the rule of law. We call on the Iranian government to guarantee that the will of the Iranian people is reflected in the electoral process.
We remain committed to finding a diplomatic solution to the issue of Iran's nuclear program and support renewed efforts to that effect, such as the readiness of the U.S. to enter into direct talks and the invitation from China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States to Iran to restart negotiations, as well as the constructive involvement of other G8 partners in the process. We stress the need for unity of action on the basis of agreed policy. We sincerely hope that Iran will seize this opportunity to give diplomacy a chance to find a negotiated solution to the nuclear issue. At the same time we remain deeply concerned over proliferation risks posed by Iran's nuclear programme. We recognise that Iran has the right to a civilian nuclear programme, but that comes with the responsibility to restore confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of its nuclear activities. We strongly urge Iran to cooperate fully with the IAEA and to comply with the relevant UNSC Resolutions.
Our meeting on the margin of the United Nations General Assembly opening week next September, will be an occasion for the G8 to take stock of the situation.
. . .