EU endorses sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program

The European Union will endorse efforts to pursue sanctions against Iran, while keeping the door open to future negotiations to resolve the nuclear standoff with Tehran, Germany's foreign minister said Monday.

EU foreign ministers planned to discuss Iran's nuclear program at talks Tuesday. A draft EU statement said, "Iran's continuation of enrichment-related activities has left the EU no choice, but to support [UN] consultations on such measures."

"We have stuck to the line ... saying that there will be discussions in the UN Security Council, probably with a resolution, and we are trying at the first stage to reach agreement on sanctions," Frank-Walter Steinmeier told reporters.

"But we still have this offer of talks to Iran; we are always prepared to resume those negotiations with Iran," he said.

Talks led by EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana - on behalf of the UN Security Council's five permanent members and Germany - with Iran had so far failed to make any headway, Steinmeier said.

They "have not been crowned with success so far," the German foreign minister said. Solana said he was still in contact with chief Iranian negotiator Ali Larijani, but that Iran was still refusing a demand that it suspend its enrichment program during future negotiations on its nuclear program.

EU officials, including Solana, have said that a package of incentives aimed at persuading Iran to halt uranium enrichment was still on offer, if Iran changed its mind.

EU nations have not decided what sanctions they might support against Tehran. Washington is pushing a tough line on Iran, while Russia and China have advocated less severe measures.

EU foreign ministers were to endorse the six powers' conclusions reached last week, to move the issue to the United Nations.

Iran rejects claims made by the United States and others that it is using its nuclear program to develop nuclear weapons.

Iran rejects UN sanctions against North KoreaIran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says his country won't be intimidated by UN sanctions on North Korea for a presumed nuclear test and plans to push ahead with its own nuclear program.

Ahmadinejad also rejected as "illegal" a Security Council demand that Tehran suspend its own uranium enrichment activities, state-run television reported Monday.

"Some Western countries have turned the UN Security Council into a weapon to impose their hegemony and issue resolutions against countries that oppose them," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying.

The president did not mention North Korea by name, but he was referring to a council resolution, which imposes sanctions on North Korea and calls Pyongyang's claimed nuclear test "a clear threat to international peace and security."

Ahmadinejad's comments are the first Iranian official reaction to UN sanctions against North Korea.

"They [U.S.] use the council for threats and intimidation," the television quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.

Iran has not criticized North Korea for conducting a nuclear test and instead blamed Washington, saying America's pressures on Pyongyang forced North Korea to conduct the test.

In return, the United States warned Iran on Sunday, saying Tehran should take lessons from the sanctions imposed on North Korea for defying the international community on its nuclear weapons program.

The United States confirmed on Monday for the first time that radioactivity had been detected from North Korea's October 9 test.

While North Korea has acknowledged that it seeks nuclear weapons as a deterrent against U.S. threats, Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful and intended to generate electricity.

"I hope the lesson they learn is that if they continue to pursue nuclear weapons, they will face the same kind of isolation and restrictions that we have just imposed on the North Koreans," the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton told CNN's "Late Edition" on Sunday.

North Korea's claim to have tested an atomic bomb could embolden Iran as it defies the UN Security Council and the United States over its own nuclear program.

Ahmadinejad said Iran's nuclear activities was "within international regulations" and said Tehran will not give in to pressures to stop its nuclear program.

"Mounting threats and pressures against Iran's peaceful nuclear activities won't cause even one iota of hesitation in the will of the Iranian nation to continue this path [nuclear technology]," Ahmadinejad said.

"Iran won't be intimidated," he said.

Iran has ignored an August 31 deadline set by the UN Security Council to stop uranium enrichment. Uranium enriched to low level is used to produce nuclear fuel and generate electricity but further enrichment makes its suitable for use in atomic bomb.

The United States and some of its allies accuse Iran of seeking nuclear weapons. Tehran maintains its program is peaceful and merely aimed at generating electricity, not bomb.

Iran says its nuclear program is part of a plan to provide 20,000 megawatts of electricity through nuclear energy in the next two decades.

	Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. (Reuters)