BRUSSELS, March 23 (UPI) -- Three MEPs issued a message to the Iranian people on Norouz, the Iranian New Year, expressing hope that the nuclear issue would be settled within the year.
Angelika Beer, Christa Prets and Romano La Russa, all members of the Bureau of the European Parliament Delegation for the Islamic Republic of Iran, issued a joint statement Tuesday stating they were against a military solution to the nuclear issue, and that they hoped to see it resolved within Iranian year 1385, Iranian news agency IRNA reported.
"We are united in our opposition to any military solution to the nuclear question!" the statement said. "Let us join hands against the further escalation of tensions in the Middle East. As much as we urge the Iranian government to refrain from provocations against the existence of the state of Israel, we ascertain the responsibility of our EU member states to take serious and credible steps towards a nuclear free weapons zone in Europe and in the Middle East."
"That 1385 may bring a negotiated solution to the nuclear dispute, satisfying Iranian aspirations to freely choose their national energy strategy and assuring European safety concerns!"
The message also expressed solidarity with Iranian women and called for improvements to social inequalities and issues of human rights concern, including the use of the death penalty for children and the imprisonment of journalists and bloggers.
