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U.N. Powers Continue Iran Discussions
Envoys from the U.N. Security Council’s five permanent member nations held inconclusive informal meetings yesterday on Iran’s nuclear activities, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, March 22). “No agreement,” Russian Ambassador Andrei Denisov said after a 90-minute meeting with ambassadors from China, France, the United Kingdom and the United States at the U.S. mission. “We truly tried to keep unity of our small group. ... We still need time to consult,” Denisov said. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, traveling in China, restated Moscow’s opposition to any “ultimatum” that involves sanctions. “This draft [U.N. Security Council statement] includes formulae that will practically prepare the ground for introducing sanctions against Iran, so it is unlikely that we will be able to support this draft as it is,” Lavrov said of the text drafted by France and the United Kingdom. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, however, expressed optimism that the council would eventually agree on an approach. “We will come up with a vehicle (for addressing the Iranians), I am quite certain of it,” she said. “If it takes a little longer, I’m really not concerned about that” (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, March 22). U.S. President George W. Bush yesterday warned that Iran would look for the “weakest link” among the council powers, the Financial Times reported. “Our job is to make sure that this kind of international will remains strong and united, so that we can solve this issue diplomatically,” Bush said. However, the United Nations has remained fractured for more than a week. “We got our asses whipped last night,” a U.N. diplomat said after Monday evening’s meeting of the council’s five permanent members plus Germany. “The Russians and the Chinese came out blazing and our political directors backed down. We’ve got to start all over.” John Sawers, the British Foreign Office political director, on Friday encouraged his French, German and U.S. counterparts to offer Iran new incentives — including talks with all six countries — if Tehran suspends its uranium enrichment activities, the Times reported. Diplomats said France and Germany were open to the plan but that the Bush administration immediately rejected the idea of any new incentives, particularly U.S. talks with Iran, according to the Times. Diplomats said they believed U.S. officials leaked Sawers’ plan on Friday in an effort to undermine the proposal. Since then, London has seemingly backtracked, the Times reported. “One thing we agree on — the U.K., U.S. and EU — is that we are not in the business of backsliding and rewarding Iranians for bad behavior,” a British official said (Dinmore/Khalafin/Turnerat, Financial Times, March 22). Chinese President Hu Jintao and visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin today agreed that the issue should be resolved diplomatically, Reuters reported today. “China supports Russia’s active efforts to appropriately resolve the Iran nuclear issue,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang (Reuters, March 23).
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