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Iran's nuclear plans occupy Berlin meet

Members of an Iranian dissident group stage a demonstration outside the Foreign Ministry in Berlin yesterday during a meeting of foreign ministers of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany on the Iranian nuclear issue. PHOTO: AFP

Diplomats from the US, Russia, China and Europe focused yesterday on what kind of pressure to bring on the Iranian government to get it to compromise on its suspect nuclear activities.

The meeting follows agreement on Wednesday by the 15-member Security Council to ask the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), to report back in 30 days on Iran's compliance with demands to stop enriching uranium.

The council statement takes into account Russian and Chinese reservations about too much toughness, while meeting US, French and British calls for keeping the pressure on Tehran.

It "notes with serious concern" Iran's decision to resume activities related to uranium enrichment and limit access to IAEA inspectors.

It calls on Iran to return to "full and sustained suspension of all enrichment-related ... activities."

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called the statement an "important diplomatic step" that showed the international community's concern about Iran.

Iran remained defiant, maintaining its right to nuclear power but insisting on Wednesday night that it had no intention of seeking weapons of mass destruction.

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki yesterday condemned "unjustified propaganda" about its nuclear program.

"Iran's nuclear program is peaceful and has never diverted towards prohibited activities," Mottaki told the 65-nation Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.

But, he added, Iran is willing to continue talks with the IAEA, saying, "Our cooperation with the agency will continue."

Rice and ministers from France, Britain, Russia, China and Germany were not expected to accomplish much at a meeting formally set to last only 90 minutes beyond giving formal blessings for the council statement -- and using it to reflect a show of unity.

While the officials are expected to touch on ways to engage Iran diplomatically, major differences persist on that approach.

In a confidential letter drafted earlier this month, the British argued for talks directly or indirectly involving the six nations. In exchange, they hoped to secure Russian and Chinese backing for increasing pressure on Teheran through binding Security Council resolutions that could be enforced militarily -- including sanctions.

When asked if multilateral talks with Iran could still be considered at yesterday's talks, a senior European official said: "the proposal is not off the table."

Still, a US official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said Washington was opposed to any talks going beyond contacts between Iran and Britain, France and Germany -- the three countries that broke off talks with Tehran last year after it started activities linked to enrichment.

The US position appeared at odds with Moscow's stance. Before the Berlin meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said his country continued to insist on "exclusively political and diplomatic methods," the RIA-Novosti news agency reported.

The US official did not rule out direct discussions with Iran, suggesting they could be a spinoff of the US' decision this month to talk to Iranian officials about Iraq.
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