Merkel hails 'big step forward' in talks with Iran

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday that the G7 group had made a "big step forward" in talks with Iran at a summit in southwestern France.

"It's a big step forward. Now there is an atmosphere in which talks are welcomed," she said on the last day of the summit in Biarritz, adding that the talks a day earlier had taken place "in coordination with the United States, which is big.