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Q: Mr. Secretary-General. Do you see a role for yourself now that Iran has been reported to the Security Council? What role could you play, and could this be an issue that could help define the last year of your term as Secretary-General?

SG: On the Iranian issue, the [International] Atomic [Energy] Agency is preparing a report for the end of the month. What is important is that both sides have said negotiations are not dead, negotiations are not over, and they are prepared to talk, and I would urge them to continue. In the meantime it would be important that no steps are taken that would escalate the already tense situation. And I hope Iran will continue to freeze its activities, the way they are now, to allow talks to go forward, to allow them to pursue the Russian offer, and to allow negotiations with the European Three and the Russians to come back to the table. Obviously if the issue were to be referred here to the Council, I would work with the Member States to find the best way to deal with it.

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