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Iran Says Nuclear Talks with EU-3 to Resume in Two Weeks
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said yesterday that Tehran would resume its nuclear negotiations with the European Union this month but that no talks are planned with the United States, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Nov. 28). However, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said yesterday that his nation, France and the United Kingdom would return to the talks only if Iran indicates it is ready to address the fears raised by its nuclear program, Reuters reported. “A few days ago the EU-3 accepted the request of Iran to resume negotiations. But the starting pistol for the resumption of talks has not been shot yet,” Steinmeier said. Steinmeier, speaking to the German parliament after a two-day visit to the United States, said guarantees are needed that Iran’s nuclear program is peaceful. “We share the concerns of the majority [of the] international community (about Iran). We need absolute security. We need objective guarantees that in using civilian nuclear technology no nuclear weapons will be developed,” he said. Steinmeier also warned that the patience of the European nations was not infinite. If that patience runs out, the EU-3 could join the U.S. push to have Iran referred to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions over its nuclear program. Talks would only resume if Iran indicates that it would “accept a solution that allows it to get peaceful nuclear energy but rules out the possibility that Iran will have a closed fuel cycle,” he said. The European Union countries suspended talks with Tehran after Iran restarted uranium processing. A European diplomat said that enrichment at Iran’s Natanz facility, which intelligence indicates is scheduled to be put back into service, needs to be addressed. “The only issue now is enrichment at Natanz,” the diplomat said. European and Iranian officials said no date has been set to discuss a Russian proposal to transfer uranium enrichment from Iran to Russian soil. A U.S. diplomat said the talks might not take place until early next year (Reuters/New York Times, Nov. 30). U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said yesterday that lack of progress in the next round of negotiations could lead to trade and investment restrictions against Tehran, the Associated Press reported. “All of us around the world have to think about how we can influence that government. And that is certainly one way that many countries around the world can do that,” he said. Burns asserted that there is a “widening circle of countries” that would use economic and diplomatic means to curbs Iran’s nuclear ambitions. “There is a growing diplomatic coalition to apply curbs, and other countries have trade and other weapons,” he said (Barry Schweid, Associated Press II/Baltimore Sun, Nov. 30). Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday said Tehran could not be pushed into eliminating its nuclear program, the Associated Press reported. “This nation will never give up its right to use peaceful nuclear energy. Our enemies have to know that the Iranian people will develop their nuclear technology to the limit,” he said. “Those whose arsenal is full of weapons of mass destruction are trying to deprive the Iranian people of their rights. The people will not allow their rights to be trampled on. International propaganda and political pressure will not affect Iran's will to achieve (nuclear) technology,” he added (Nasser Karimi, Associated Press III, Nov. 30).
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