Iran-EU nuclear talks expected soon
Monday, June 18, 2007
IRAN'S chief nuclear negotiator and the European Union's foreign policy chief may meet again in the next few days for talks on Tehran's disputed nuclear programme, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said yesterday.
Iran's Ali Larijani and the EU's Javier Solana held exploratory talks on May 31 in Madrid, but the meeting yielded no breakthrough on the core dispute Iran's refusal to suspend uranium enrichment as a condition for broader negotiations.
They agreed to meet again in two weeks, but without announcing a date and venue.
"We will possibly see Solana-Larijani talks in the next few days," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told reporters at a regular briefing.
"Contacts are still going on for determining the exact time and place," he said.
Solana's spokeswoman Cristina Gallach said in Brussels that the meeting would take place "soon" but added that a date had not yet been fixed.
Iran says its programme to produce nuclear fuel is solely for electricity generation but Western powers suspect it wants to build bombs. Two sets of UN sanctions have been imposed on Iran and a third round has been mooted by Washington and EU powers.
Instead of halting enrichment, as the UN Security Council has ordered, Iran has rapidly extended its programme.
On Thursday, chief UN monitor Mohamed ElBaradei urged Iran to stop expanding uranium enrichment to defuse a standoff he said could lead towards disastrous conflict.
ElBaradei said his compromise idea might pave the way towards a "double suspension" of enrichment and sanctions, enabling talks to take place on trade benefits for Tehran that have been offered by six world powers.
His proposal may anger Western leaders who have sponsored UN resolutions demanding Iran shut down enrichment completely, not just cease installing more centrifuge machines.
Iran has been slapped with two sets of UN Security Council sanctions and it is likely to face a third for its refusal to suspend sensitive enrichment work, the process which makes nuclear fuel and the fissile core of an atom bomb. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed scepticism on June 1 that talks between Iran and the EU would produce any commitment from Tehran.
Agencies
Iran's Ali Larijani and the EU's Javier Solana held exploratory talks on May 31 in Madrid, but the meeting yielded no breakthrough on the core dispute Iran's refusal to suspend uranium enrichment as a condition for broader negotiations.
They agreed to meet again in two weeks, but without announcing a date and venue.
"We will possibly see Solana-Larijani talks in the next few days," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told reporters at a regular briefing.
"Contacts are still going on for determining the exact time and place," he said.
Solana's spokeswoman Cristina Gallach said in Brussels that the meeting would take place "soon" but added that a date had not yet been fixed.
Iran says its programme to produce nuclear fuel is solely for electricity generation but Western powers suspect it wants to build bombs. Two sets of UN sanctions have been imposed on Iran and a third round has been mooted by Washington and EU powers.
Instead of halting enrichment, as the UN Security Council has ordered, Iran has rapidly extended its programme.
On Thursday, chief UN monitor Mohamed ElBaradei urged Iran to stop expanding uranium enrichment to defuse a standoff he said could lead towards disastrous conflict.
ElBaradei said his compromise idea might pave the way towards a "double suspension" of enrichment and sanctions, enabling talks to take place on trade benefits for Tehran that have been offered by six world powers.
His proposal may anger Western leaders who have sponsored UN resolutions demanding Iran shut down enrichment completely, not just cease installing more centrifuge machines.
Iran has been slapped with two sets of UN Security Council sanctions and it is likely to face a third for its refusal to suspend sensitive enrichment work, the process which makes nuclear fuel and the fissile core of an atom bomb. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed scepticism on June 1 that talks between Iran and the EU would produce any commitment from Tehran.
Agencies
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