Iranian President Mohammad Khatami will stop over in Vienna on his way to Paris next Monday for talks with political leaders, including President Heinz Fischer, the presidential chancellery said on Wednesday. During a stay of several hours in Vienna, Khatami would also meet with Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel and Speaker of Parliament Andreas Khol. Fischer and Khatami would give press statements at the presidential Hofburg Palace and have a working lunch together, an official statement said. Khatami's second and final four-year term as head of state will run out in a few weeks' time. His last stay in Austria was a state visit in March 2002 when he signed a "memorandum of understanding" with his hosts, condemning all forms of terrorism. The E.U. is presently negotiating with Iran with the aim of persuading the country to voluntarily dispense with its uranium enrichment programme. Last week the talks, held on the E.U. side by France, Germany and Britain, were resumed after previous rounds ended inconclusively. The E.U. is currently examining an Iranian proposal that it be allowed to enrich uranium under supervision. The United States has accused Iran of a secret nuclear weapons programme, which Teheran denies.
