German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle has supported the resumption of “substantial talks” between major world powers and Iran to resolve the Western dispute over Tehran’s nuclear energy program.

"[The new round of talks] is based on our European initiative and we hope that it can lead to substantial talks in April," AFP quoted Westerwelle as saying in a Sunday visit to Oman.

He said Germany is working toward a political resolution to help avert an escalation of the dispute over Tehran's nuclear energy program.

Iran and the P5+1 - Russia, China, France, Britain, the US and Germany - held two rounds of talks in Geneva in December 2010 and in the Turkish city of Istanbul in January 2011.

The top German diplomat went on to say that any possible military action against Iran over its nuclear activities would be "counterproductive" and warned that the situation is "very serious."

"That is why I think every effort is needed to avert an escalation," he said.

The US and Israel have been escalating their war rhetoric against Iran in recent months, claiming that there is a diversion in the country’s nuclear energy program for military purposes.

Refuting their claims, Tehran argues that as a committed member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), it is entitled to all peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

Iran also maintains that the IAEA has never, in its frequent inspections of the country’s nuclear facilities, found any evidence of a diversion towards making weapons.

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News ID 181640