Greece on Friday urged Iran to accept the incentives deal offered by the six countries in exchange for Tehran giving up plans for uranium enrichment.

At the joint press conference here after a meeting with visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Motaki, Deputy Foreign Minister Yiannis Valinakis said that the package of energy and economic incentives offered to Iran by the United States, China, Russia, France, Germany and Britain, which went to the 15-nation UN Security Council on Thursday, could pave the way for further negotiations.

"Greece, as a member-state of the European Union and of the UN Security Council, expects that the package of proposals submitted by the 'six' at the start of June will be clearly accepted by Iran so that negotiations might begin," he told reporters.

"We consider that Iran must, for its own part, open the prospect for negotiations through its answer and that the issue should leave the Security Council," he said.

Regarding the renewed fighting in the Middle East, the deputy minister repeated Greece's position for "an end to the vicious circle of violence."

"Violence cannot solve any of the problems; it can only exacerbate and magnify them. Our position is that there must be self-restraint by all sides so that this vicious circle of violence does not continue," he stressed.

On his part, Motaki, who arrived here on Friday for a brief visit, called for the intervention of the international community and the United Nations to "stop this crime."

Replying to a question on whether Iran backs the Hezbollah organization, as charged by Israel, and whether the seized Israeli soldiers were being held in Iran, the Iranian foreign minister said that Israel always accuses others for its own actions.

On the latest developments in the Middle East, Motaki said that the situation is alarming and dangerous, adding that the latest Israeli attacks on Palestinians, the destruction of Palestinian infrastructure, the attacks against Lebanon, have caused great concern in all Islamic countries.