EU urges Iran to stick with nuclear suspension
Reuters
Date: 05-23-05
By Paul Taylor
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union warned Iran on Monday that their future relations depended on it respecting its commitment to freeze sensitive nuclear activities.
In addition, EU foreign ministers expressed dismay at the exclusion of reformist candidates from next month's Iranian presidential election by a conservative Islamic watchdog, saying it meant the poll would not be truly democratic.
Meeting two days before crucial talks in Geneva between the three leading EU powers and Iran, the 25 ministers urged Tehran to stick to its pledge to suspend uranium enrichment and related activities that could help it develop nuclear weapons.
"There was a clear reaffirmation that the Iranians have to respect the commitments they entered into last November under the Paris agreement. These commitments cannot be circumvented," Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn told a news conference after chairing the meeting.
"This is very important for further relations between the EU and Iran."
He did not say what the EU would do if Tehran made good on a threat to resume the conversion of uranium into gas at a plant in Isfahan, a precursor to enriching it for nuclear fuel.
An EU official said the ministers supported the position of Britain, France and Germany, which have said that such a move would lead to Iran being referred to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told reporters he expected the talks with top Iranian negotiator Hassan Rohani in Geneva to be tough.
"The issue before us on Wednesday will be to ensure that both sides stick by the commitments we have already entered into," Straw said.
U.S. TAKES HARD LINE
In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice emphasized the hard line being taken by the United States before the EU-Iran talks in Geneva.
"Along with our allies, we are working to gain full disclosure of Iran's efforts to obtain nuclear weapons. The world must not tolerate any Iranian attempt to develop a nuclear weapon," she said in a speech to an influential pro-Israel lobby group, the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee.
Iran says the Europeans are dragging out the negotiations launched in Paris last November, and its voluntary suspension of enrichment activity was only meant to be temporary.
Iranian officials accuse the EU of failing to respond to their proposal to be allowed to keep a pilot scheme to produce small amounts of enriched uranium for scientific purposes under strict international supervision.
EU officials have said it would be unacceptable for Iran to keep any enrichment capacity but they did not want to reject the proposal out of hand and hope the negotiating atmosphere will be easier after the June 17 election.
An EU diplomat said the EU3 group could show some flexibility over a proposal that Russia enrich uranium for Iran temporarily.
"There will be a very firm line against Iran resuming any suspended activity, but we have to show some flexibility on the Russian proposal," the diplomat said.
The Iranian delegation will hold preparatory talks at political director level with the EU3 in Brussels on Tuesday before Wednesday's high-level meeting in Geneva.
The EU3 officials will first meet visiting U.S. Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns in talks expected to cover policy toward Iran as well as other trouble spots.
Asselborn said the EU ministers had criticized the role of the unelected Guardian Council, which vets legislation and candidates for their Islamic orthodoxy, in barring reformist candidates from the election.
The council announced on Sunday it had disqualified all but six of more than 1,000 candidates, including the nominee of the main reformist party, former Education Minister Mostafa Moin.
Asselborn said the EU was very disappointed.
"The Guardian council only decided to approve those candidates who represent a relatively narrow range of opinions in the country and so they made it impossible for a true democratic choice to be made by the Iranian people," he said.
Source
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