LONDON - Six world powers agreed on Friday to discuss possible U.N. Security
Council sanctions to punish Iran for failing to halt its nuclear programme but
said they were still open to negotiations with Tehran.
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
is seen in this September 19, 2006 file photo. World powers meeting in
London on Friday are likely to agree on the principle of imposing
sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program but not to approve specific
language, a U.S. official said. [Reuters] |
The United States, which has accused Iran of trying to build a nuclear bomb,
portrayed the agreement with Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China as a
decision by the six powers to impose sanctions, with just their scope now to be
determined.
"The decision has been made we'll go for sanctions. The question is what will
the extent of the sanctions be," U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political
Affairs Nicholas Burns told reporters after the London ministerial-level
meeting.
Burns said the six powers' political directors would hold talks on Tuesday or
Wednesday and that their U.N. ambassadors were expected to begin discussing a
sanctions resolution the following day.
While Washington, backed by Britain, is lobbying hard for sanctions, Russia
and China have opposed this route.
Russia reiterated after the meeting that talks with Iran were the way forward
and that it would continue to pursue that goal at the United Nations.
"We have firmly confirmed that we will hold consultations in the U.N.
Security Council on what additional measures to take to incite the Iranian party
to accepting the proposals that the sextet made in early June," Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.
In June, the six powers offered Iran economic and political incentives to
halt uranium enrichment. In its reply, Iran hinted at some flexibility over
suspension but not as a precondition for talks.
Iran, which says its nuclear programme is only for power generation, missed a
Security Council deadline of August 31 to stop uranium enrichment. Apart from
Germany, the powers that met in London were veto-wielding Security Council
members.
"FURTHER PRESSURE"
"Further pressure (on Iran) is needed," British Foreign Secretary Margaret
Beckett told reporters.
In July, a U.N. resolution authorised the Security Council to "adopt
appropriate measures" to pressure Iran under article 41, Chapter 7 of the U.N.
Charter, which referred to commercial or diplomatic sanctions but excluded
military force.
"We are proposing to consult on measures under Article 41. That means not
military measures but it does mean other measures which can put pressure on Iran
in order to bring them to the negotiating table," said Beckett.
A senior U.S. official told reporters the six powers were discussing imposing
"graduated sanctions" against Iran, starting with measures against at its
nuclear industry.
The official, who declined to be named, said these could include limiting
trade in "dual-use" technologies with civilian and military applications,
restricting investment in the industry and limiting contacts with Iranian
nuclear scientists.
After four months of negotiations between European Union foreign policy chief
Javier Solana and top Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani, Tehran says it
will not stop its atomic work and has a right to nuclear technology.
Iran has shrugged off the sanctions threat. The world's fourth largest oil
exporter feels it can cope with such steps.
A European diplomat said the London meeting had essentially shifted future
talks on whether to start drafting sanctions back to New York, under the
auspices of the United Nations.
"We bring back the ball to the Security Council," the diplomat told Reuters,
asking not to be named. "The real discussion on sanctions is going to be in New
York."
The six powers said in a statement after the London meeting they were "deeply
disappointed" Iran was not prepared to suspend its enrichment-related and
reprocessing activities but that they would continue efforts to find a
negotiated solution.
Long-running divisions among the world powers were evident before the
meeting.
Russia and China had agreed it was "absolutely unacceptable" to threaten
force against Iran and that talk of ultimatums was counter-productive, Russian
Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Alexeyev was quoted as saying earlier on
Friday.
But U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the time when sanctions
would need to be imposed was drawing near.
"I suspect that we are getting there pretty quickly because we cannot
continue to extend deadline after deadline after deadline or nobody will take
the international system seriously," she said before the meeting.
Tehran again urged the West on Thursday to solve the dispute through talks
and repeated it would not stop uranium enrichment.
