Vice President Biden welcomed British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg to his home in Washington today to discuss a range of bilateral and regional issues, including the need to test the possibilities of diplomacy with the new leadership in Iran.  On Syria, the two leaders agreed on the need for a strong UN Security Council Resolution to ensure the Assad regime upholds its commitments on chemical weapons, and reinforced U.S. and U.K. support for a political solution to the conflict in Syria and the need for a negotiated transition.  The Vice President welcomed U.K. support for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations, which has the potential to generate significant increases in the already substantial number of jobs supported by U.S.-E.U. trade and investment.  The Vice President reiterated U.S. support for independent chair Richard Haass and the all-party talks, and our continuing commitment to support Northern Ireland’s progress toward a united community and shared future.