Prodi: Mideast solution requires talks with Iran

Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi told an Egyptian daily that the crisis in the Middle East cannot be resolved without direct talks with Iran, according to a transcript of the interview released by Prodi's office on Friday. "Without direct talks with Iran, it becomes very difficult to resolve these problems because Iran is undisputably important," Prodi said in an interview with the daily Akhbar El-yom on Aug. 3. He called Iran "a key country in Middle Eastern politics."