Last update - 00:00 02/12/2007
Envoy: UN may have deal on third sanctions resolution against Iran
By The Associated Press
Leading international powers may have an agreement within weeks on a third UN sanctions resolution against Iran over its nuclear program, a French diplomat said after high-level talks in Paris Saturday.
"The meeting was held in a positive spirit. The elements allow us to project that we could have a resolution in the short term," the official said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks.
The official said a compromise text on a new resolution would be circulated next week among the six countries involved in the negotiations - the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany. He said he was relatively optimistic about having a resolution in the coming weeks.
The talks were held a day after the collapse of an 18-month E.U. effort to persuade Iran to stop uranium enrichment. The French official called those talks a disaster.
On Friday, EU envoy Javier Solana held meetings with Saeed Jalili, Iran's senior nuclear negotiator, in London. The meeting had been considered a last chance for Iran to give in to UN pressure and freeze its enrichment program before a European Union report on Iran's nuclear program that will be used in the discussion of new sanctions.
The United States, France and Britain are urging quick and tough new sanctions, but statements by Russia and China have suggested they are skeptical.
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