Last update - 00:00 18/11/2007
EU foreign ministers weigh push for new sanctions against Iran
By The Associated Press
The European Union's chief negotiator in the dispute over Iran's nuclear program will consult with the bloc's foreign ministers Monday about whether to push for new sanctions to try to force Tehran to stop
enriching uranium.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana will brief the 27 ministers on the
bloc's options, as France and Britain argue for new penalties to push Iran to stop enrichment work, which they fear could be aimed at producing weapons.
A report released last week by the UN's nuclear watchdog agency found Iran has been generally truthful in the information it has provided the agency about aspects of its past nuclear activities. But the International Atomic Energy Agency said it still could not rule out that Iran had a secret weapons program because of restrictions Tehran placed on its inspectors two years ago.
Iran's refusal to meet demands to freeze enrichment, meanwhile, has fueled calls by the United States and Britain for a third round of U.N. Security Council sanctions.
Alvaro Mendonca e Moura, Portugal's EU ambassador, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said Solana would outline steps the bloc could take.
An October foreign ministers' meeting failed to agree on new sanctions.
"We said we would consider what additional measures we might take in order to support the UN process," Mendonca e Moura said.
He also said Solana was preparing for the possibility of another meeting with Iran's nuclear negotiators, but that a meeting had not yet been confirmed.
Talks planned for Monday in Brussels among representatives of the five
permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and Germany had to be put off because China, which opposes toughening sanctions, said it would not attend.
Explaining the cancellation, an EU official said last week only that the
Chinese informed them that they had scheduling problems.
However, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack suggested last week that Beijing was blocking plans for a new meeting.
It appears likely that the IAEA's report on Tehran's general cooperation in answering the agency's questions appears to have emboldened China and Russia - both of them Security Council members - to argue against new penalties.
France's foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, has sought to persuade his EU counterparts to support European sanctions outside of the United Nations. He has failed to win widespread support and faces opposition, notably from Germany, which has extensive trade interests in Iran.
Kouchner told Haaretz on Sunday that the IAEA's report does not alter the seriousness with which France views the crisis or its stance on a potential military strike against Iran.
Kouchner, who along with French President Nicolas Sarkozy is leading the European hard-liners against Iran, described the crisis over Iran's nuclear program "as extremely serious," adding that France "will never compromise on Israel's security."
Ahmadinejad: Iran mulls plan to enrich uranium in neutral state
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday told Dow Jones Newswires he would consult with Arab nations on a plan to enrich uranium outside the region in a neutral country such as Switzerland.
"We will be talking with our [Arab] friends," he said in exclusive comments to Dow Jones Newswires on the sidelines of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' heads of state summit in Saudi Arabia.
Under a proposal put to Tehran by the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council, a multinational consortium established by the GCC would provide enriched uranium to power plants in Iran, the Middle East Economic Digest reported earlier this month, citing Saudi Arabia's Foreign Affairs Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal.
"The facility would produce nuclear fuel that the consortium would supply to Iran and other Middle East states looking to build their own nuclear power programs. We believe it should be in a neutral country - Switzerland, for instance," al-Faisal was quoted as saying.
The plan would allow Iran to develop its nuclear energy program while at the same time removing fears it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons.
Related articles: