PARIS, France (AP) -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday strongly encouraged Iran to restart dialogue with the European Union to avoid being referred to the U.N. Security Council over its nuclear program."We talked about Iran where the EU three continue to seek to use a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear issue and where we strongly encourage Iran to take advantage of that possibility," Rice said after meetings with French President Jacques Chirac and his foreign minister. She was referring to talks Britain, France and Germany have held with Iran.Rice also called for complete transparency between nations to avoid a bird flu pandemic."We believe firmly that there has to be complete transparency about what is going on with avian flu. The world should not be caught unawares by a very dangerous pandemic because countries refuse to share information, and so that is our very strong concern," she told the news conference.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.