Solana hopes Iran trip will renew talks process

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said on Wednesday he hoped his trip to Tehran this weekend would start a new process for resolving the crisis over Iran's nuclear program.

"We hope very much there will be a positive outcome of the visit and that it will not be just one visit, that it will be a process that restarts again in trying to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis," Solana told reporters.

Solana is due to travel to Tehran on Friday for talks over the weekend on an offer by major powers of economic and other incentives for Iran to give up sensitive atomic work.

"For us ... (it) is very, very important that the nuclear issue is resolved in a manner (so) that the international community will have objective guarantees on the program of Iran," he said.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, speaking at the same news conference after meeting Solana in Brussels, said Beijing also hoped the talks with Iran would be resumed.

"We believe that the Iranian issue should be solved peacefully, through diplomatic channels," he said.

The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- the United States, France, Britain, China and Russia -- as well as Germany agreed on the offer for Tehran weeks ago but had problems pinning Iran down on a time to present it.

U.S. President George W. Bush threatened Iran on Wednesday with more sanctions if it fails to stop enriching uranium and said all options were on the table to thwart Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

(Reporting by William Schomberg and Ingrid Melander; Editing by Elizabeth Piper)