Last update - 00:00 08/06/2007
G8 to back further measures if Iran doesn't halt nuclear work
By News Agencies
The Group of Eight countries said Friday that they will support adopting further measures if Iran refuses to put a halt to its uranium enrichment program.
G8 leaders said they will back UN Security Council moves on a third set of sanctions against Iran if Tehran fails to suspend enriching uranium, a process that can produce fuel for civilian energy - or fissile material for a bomb.
"We again urge Iran to take the steps required by the international community, and made mandatory by these resolutions, to suspend all its enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development, and allow negotiations to begin," it said at a summit in Germany.
The UN has already imposed two rounds of sanctions on Iran for failing to suspend uranium enrichment, a process of purifying uranium for power plants or weapons.
Iran denies Western allegations that it is developing atomic weapons, saying it only wants to generate electricity.
In a separate statement on Sudan's Darfur region, the G8 said it would support "further measures in the Security Council" if the Sudanese government or rebels continue to ignore their obligations.
The United States and Britain have both threatened Sudan's government with tougher UN sanctions if Khartoum does not support international efforts to end the conflict in Darfur.
International experts estimate 200,000 people have been killed in Darfur, though Sudan puts the toll much lower at about 9,000. The conflict has also forced 2 million more to flee their homes since 2003.
The G8 members are the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan and Russia.