Powers to discuss Iran crisis

WORLD / Center

 Powers to discuss Iran crisis
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-03-30 15:25

Six world powers gather in Berlin on Thursday to discuss the next steps
in dealing with Iran's nuclear program, with Russia and China looking for
assurances that there are no plans to use force against Tehran.

Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Andrei Denisov listens as
Argentine Ambassador to the United Nations and Security Council president
Cesar Mayoral reads a statement on Iran during a meeting of the Security
Council at U.N. headquarters in New York March 29, 2006. [Reuters]

On Wednesday, the U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted a
"presidential statement" calling on Iran to freeze its uranium enrichment
program, which can produce fuel for atom bombs. It also requests a report
in 30 days from the U.N. nuclear watchdog in Vienna on Iran's cooperation
with the agency's demands.

The Council statement was the product of weeks of negotiations among the
five veto-wielding permanent members of the Security Council -- Britain,
France, China, Russia and the United States. The final text was softened
to remove language Moscow and Beijing feared could lead to punitive
measures.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told Thursday's edition
of the Handelsblatt business daily he wanted to show a united front at
the talks.

"I'm confident that a joint position will be possible," he said. "For us
it's about having the greatest possible unity in the international
community. A similar meeting in London on January 31 achieved important
progress."

Then, the five permanent members jointly agreed to report Iran to the
Security Council over its nuclear activities.

On Wednesday, Tehran's ambassador to the U.N., Javad Zarif, said Iran
would not bow to international threats to give up its right to nuclear
energy, adding his country was "allergic to pressure."

The Islamic republic says its only wants civilian nuclear power and does
not want atomic bombs as the West believes.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said neither Moscow nor Beijing
would tolerate the use of force.

"As many of our European colleagues have said and as our Chinese friends
have said many times, any ideas of resolving the matter by compulsion and
force are extremely counterproductive and cannot be supported," Lavrov
was quoted as saying by the Russian news agency Interfax.

The foreign ministers of Germany, France, Britain and the United States
and the European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana are due to
meet at 0900 GMT in Berlin.

U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the goal of
Thursday's meeting was to map out future strategy.

"The intent is to allow the ministers to look out over the horizon on the
Iran issue ... over the medium to long term on how to deal diplomatically
with this regime and to get them back into the mainstream of the
non-proliferation regime," he said.

One EU diplomat said the U.S. and EU diplomats would be discussing with
their Russian and Chinese colleagues a strategy outlined in a letter
leaked to the media earlier this month by John Sawers, a leading British
diplomat.

Sawers said the non-legally-binding presidential statement should be
followed by a binding resolution based on Chapter VII of the U.N.
charter, which would make compliance enforceable with economic sanctions.

"We may also need to remove one of the Iranian arguments that the
suspension called for is 'voluntary'. We could do both by making the
voluntary suspension a mandatory requirement to the Security Council, in
a Resolution we would aim to adopt (in) ... early May," Sawers said in
the widely-circulated letter.

Iran's resumption of enrichment -- a process that could produce fuel for
atomic power plants or bombs -- prompted the EU in January to break off
2-1/2 years of talks with Iran and to back a U.S. demand to refer the
Iranian nuclear dossier to the U.N. Security Council.

The "EU3" -- Germany, France and Britain -- have said they were willing
to resume talks with Iran but only if Tehran re-suspended all
enrichment-related activities.

In Berlin, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will also meet German
Chancellor Angela Merkel to discuss Iran and other issues before heading
to France and Britain.

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