U.S., EU urges Iran, DPRK to fulfill international obligations

WASHINGTON, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- The United States and the European Union said on Tuesday that they will strengthen multilateral measures on non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, but urging Iran and Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to fulfill their international obligations on nuclear programs.

A common declaration issued after the U.S.-EU Summit said that Washington and Brussels reaffirm "the need to preserve and strengthen the relevant multilateral measures" and reiterate "the necessity for Iran and the DPRK to fulfill their international nuclear obligations."

Non-proliferation was one of highly concerned issues at the U.S.-EU summit, which participated by U.S. President Barack Obama and the EU Troika, namely European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana, and Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt of the Swedish EU Presidency.

"We stress that Iran has the responsibility to restore international confidence in this regard and must fulfill its international obligations in order to demonstrate the exclusively peaceful nature of its nuclear program," said the declaration.

The leaders urged Iran to "engage seriously and constructively" with major powers to advance the dialogue on the nuclear issue, reiterating that the transatlantic alliance seeks a "comprehensive, long-term and appropriate solution" to the Iranian nuclear issue through dialogue and negotiation based on Iran's compliance with UN Security Council resolutions.

The leaders also urged Pyongyang to live up to its obligations as called for in the September 2005 Joint Statement, and to take steps toward irreversible verifiable denuclearization.

"We reiterate the importance of full and transparent implementation of UN Security Council Resolutions 1718 and 1874 as tools to constrain the DPRK's proliferation activities and to convince the DPRK to return to the six-party talks and denuclearization."