German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said he hoped for progress in the dispute over Iran's nuclear program after Hassan Rowhani assumes the presidency on Saturday.
Westerwelle told German news agency DPA on Friday that Rowhani's inauguration offered an "opportunity" to clear the impasse but that "deeds not words" were what counted.
"We want confidence-building measures from Iran and substantial progress in resolving the dispute over its nuclear program," he said.
Westerwelle said the West would maintain sanctions to keep up the political pressure on Iran "for as long as we cannot be sure that Iran has renounced its atomic weapons program".
"We will seek dialogue with the new government, first on the level of civil servants then perhaps on the minister level," he said.
Only then would the West determine whether Rowhani and his new government were showing a "new flexibility" in relations, Westerwelle said.
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