A leading parliamentary deputy of the conservative opposition, Christian Democrats, called on the German government to broker out a new political dialogue between Iran and its arch-foe the United States, IRNA reported from Berlin.

"German diplomacy should take advantage of the opportunity to contribute in overcoming the official speechlessness between the US and Iran," Ruprecht Polenz told the Berliner Zeitung newspaper on Tuesday.

Germany has traditionally close relations with both America and Iran.

Tehran and Washington initiated over the weekend the first direct political contacts since the triumph of the 1979 Islamic revolution following Friday's devastating quake in the southeast Iranian city of Bam.

The US sent emergency humanitarian relief aid to the quake-hit region where so far more than 28,000 people have died.

... Payvand News - 12/30/03 ... --