Qatar pours cold water on Gulf initiative on Iran

Thu May 25, 9:39 AM ET

DOHA (AFP) - Qatar quashed hopes for a diplomatic push by the Gulf Arab states to urge Iran to back away from its hotly disputed nuclear program, saying Tehran's neighbors were still working out a common stance.

"There is no initiative in a real sense by the Gulf states, it is more that we support and encourage a diplomatic solution to this issue," Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr al-Thani said after talks with his visiting German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

"The GCC must find a clear standpoint because the countries here would be the first to be affected if there were to be problems," he said, referring to the Gulf Cooperation Council grouping Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.

Sheikh Hamad said the GCC would have to work on finding their own common position "and not just encourage the parties involved to find a diplomatic solution".

He chided Steinmeier for saying the Gulf countries had agreed to "apply the necessary pressure" on Tehran to curb its nuclear ambitions, saying Qatar had no problem with Iran building nuclear reactors for energy although it would object to any country in the region obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Steinmeier said Germany, too, could accept a limited civilian nuclear program in Iran but not the creation of highly enriched uranium which could be used in an atomic bomb.

The comments came at the end of a tour by Steinmeier of all six GCC countries in which he aimed to rally support among the wealthy Gulf monarchies to bring pressure to bear on Tehran for it to abandon sensitive nuclear work.

Sheikh Hamad's remarks seemed to pour cold water on statements from the other five Gulf Arab states that they planned to send a delegation to Tehran to take up the issue.

They also contradicted a statement he had made this week underlining an agreement made at a GCC summit to dispatch a delegation to Iran led by his Omani counterpart Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah.

Alawi had added to the confusion Monday when he said after talks with Steinmeier this week he had no plans to personally head up the delegation.

Steinmeier had told reporters traveling with him earlier that he sensed that the Gulf countries had "heightened sensitivity" about Iran's nuclear program.

"Many have very serious fears," he said.

The German and Qatari ministers' meeting came after the permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany met in London to try to find their own common approach to the Iran nuclear crisis.

Senior officials from the United States, Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany had "constructive" talks, Britain's Foreign Office said, adding that details on a common approach could be finalized at a ministerial-level meeting.

Steinmeier told a reporters in Doha that the talks would continue and that the six countries' foreign ministers would likely meet the weekend after next.

The United States and its European allies suspect Iran is trying to develop atomic weapons, an allegation denied by Tehran which says its nuclear program is for civilian purposes.

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