U.S. Gains Support for Confrontation on Iranian Nuclear Program

France, Germany and the United Kingdom are showing increased willingness to join the United States in confronting Iran over its nuclear work, the Financial Times reported today (see GSN, Aug. 3).

Following a meeting between officials from the Islamic republic and the three European countries in Paris last week, momentum has been building for the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors to refer the situation to the U.N. Security Council, U.S. officials and European diplomats said. The board is scheduled to begin its next meeting Sept. 13.

Iran has sought to exacerbate policy differences between the United States and the European nations, and loss of European support could pose serious difficulties for Tehran, according to the Times. 

France and the United Kingdom support the U.S. position on Iran, while Germany is close, officials said (Dinmore/Smyth, Financial Times, Aug. 5).

Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign minister said yesterday that his country has a “legitimate right” to enrich uranium, Agence France-Presse reported. Iran “will not allow the Iranian file to be referred to the Security Council,” said Kamal Kharazi.

“We will lobby for our rights in the international community to deal with the negative atmosphere our enemies have created against Iran,” Kharazi said. “We will never allow the enemy to trample upon our legitimate rights enshrined in the international conventions,” he added (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Aug. 4).

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