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Iran given last chance to halt Uranium enrichment
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-10-19 00:06 Senior
officials from France, Britain and Germany will meet Iran's top nuclear
negotiator in Vienna Thursday to offer Tehran a final chance to halt uranium
enrichment plans or face possible U.N. sanctions.
"This Thursday, there will be a meeting
of our political directors," British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told a London
news conference with German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer.
"What will be sought Thursday will be
discussions about Iran's compliance -- not with any conditions laid down by the
three of us, but by the (International Atomic Energy Agency) board of
governors," he said. "A proposal will be put to them."
Last month, the IAEA board passed a
resolution demanding that Iran freeze its uranium enrichment activities --
procedures that could produce fuel for nuclear weapons -- but Tehran rejected
the demand as illegal.
Officials in Tehran said negotiator
Hassan Rohani, secretary-general of Iran's Supreme National Security Council,
would travel to Italy Tuesday evening. It was unclear what his itinerary would
be prior to Thursday's meeting in Vienna.
Gholamreza Aghazadeh, head of Iran's
Atomic Energy Organization, said Iran was determined to press ahead with its
atomic plans and would not give up its right to enrich uranium.
"We will review the Europeans' proposal
only if it respects Iran's right (to master the nuclear fuel cycle)," Aghazadeh
told state television.
The process of enriching uranium
increases the concentration of an especially radioactive isotope in the metal,
resulting in a product usable in nuclear power plants or weapons.
Tehran says it wants to produce
low-enriched uranium fuel only for power generation, but Washington says it has
a covert plan to produce highly enriched fuel for atomic weapons.
Diplomats said the meeting between Rohani
and the European political directors would take place in Vienna, where the IAEA
has its headquarters. But they said the IAEA would not be directly involved in
the talks.
The IAEA has been investigating Iran's
nuclear program for more than two years. While it has uncovered many previously
hidden activities that could be related to a weapons program, it has found no
"smoking gun" to support U.S. allegations Tehran has an active atom bomb
program.
"VERY SERIOUS SITUATION"
If Iran rejects the EU offer, diplomats
in Vienna say most European states would back U.S. demands that Tehran be
reported to the U.N. Security Council when the IAEA meets in November.
"We hope very much this matter can be
resolved finally within the board of governors and not referred to the U.N., but
only time will tell," Straw said.
Fischer emphasized that suspending
uranium enrichment was something Iran had already promised the EU trio in
October 2003.
"Let me use this opportunity to appeal
once again to the leadership of Iran to fulfill its commitments and to avoid
miscalculation which will lead us into a very serious situation," Fischer added.
This meeting follows Friday's session of
the Group of Eight (G8) industrial nations, where the European
Union presented its plans to use a "carrots and sticks" approach with
Tehran, offering incentives in exchange for a verified suspension and eventual
termination of uranium enrichment.
One Western diplomat said that at
Friday's G8 meeting, the U.S. response to the EU was one of deep skepticism
about whether Iran would comply with the terms of the deal, which is aimed at
cutting off Iran's ability to make bomb-grade uranium.
"Neither the Russians nor the Americans
actively support the EU three deal," said one Western diplomat about the G8
meeting.
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