The European Union will support an Iranian nuclear program that cannot be put
to military use and will boost political and economic cooperation if Tehran
accepts international oversight, a top official said Monday.
Saudi Arabia's
Minister for Foreign Affairs H.R.H. Prince Saud Al-Faisal, left, shakes
hands with United Nations President of the General Assembly Jan Eliason
during a meeting of EU foreign ministers and the Gulf Cooperation Council
at the EU Council building in Brussels, Monday, May 15, 2006. The EU is
working on a package of economic and political measures to offer Iran, and
will support a 'proliferation-proof' civilian nuclear program for that
country, a top EU official said Monday.
[AP] |
EU foreign ministers meeting Monday considered a package of enhanced
incentives to induce Tehran to stop uranium enrichment, which many experts see
as a first step toward producing nuclear weapons.
"We are prepared to work on a cooperation package and support Iran's
development of a proliferation-proof civilian nuclear program," Austrian Foreign
Minister Ursula Plassnik, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said
after the meeting.
She said the EU's new plan would contain three elements — economic
assistance, political cooperation, and support for the civilian nuclear program.
The EU remains deeply concerned by Iran's failure to cooperate with the
International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, she said.
"We remain committed to finding a diplomatic solution ... The intention is
not to push Iran into further isolation but to find a way to bring Iran back to
a negotiating track," Plassnik said. "But we will also look at measures to be
taken should Iran continue to reject this course."
The foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels came just a day after hard-line
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rejected any incentive package that would
require Tehran to stop enriching uranium.
Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told British, French and German
envoys to Tehran Monday that Iran welcomes any proposal recognizing Iran's
rights under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty but was quick to say Tehran
will reject any demand to suspend its peaceful nuclear program, state-run
television reported.
"Pay attention that your proposals include the two basic conditions, that is
recognizing Iran's definite rights and exercing these rights otherwise its fate
will be like that of August package," television quoted Mottaki as saying.
Later, Mottaki told Russian and Chinese ambassadors to Tehran that Iran won't
give up its right to enrich uranium, state-run television quoted him as saying.
The EU said Monday it supports a possible Security Council resolution that
would require Iran to comply with demands to halt enrichment activities and to
suspend construction of a heavy water research reactor that could be the source
of plutonium used in nuclear weapons.
Tehran has repeatedly asserted that its nuclear program, which includes
uranium enrichment, is aimed only at generating power. But the United States,
Israel and the EU fear it is a cover for the development of nuclear weapons.
Iran has already rejected a package of economic and political incentives
offered by the EU last August in return for a permanent end to uranium
enrichment. But EU governments have continued to offer sweeteners while at the
same time pushing the United Nations for measures that could lead to sanctions
if it refuses.
The EU hopes an enhanced offer could help persuade Iran to comply with the
demands, even as Russia and China resist European and American efforts to draft
a Security Council resolution under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter — which would
make it enforceable by sanctions or, if necessary, military action.
EU officials have said a final proposal could be hammered out in time for a
meeting of nonproliferation officials from the five permanent Security Council
nations next Friday in London.
After Monday's talks in Brussels, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said
Iran had to put a "complete stop" to uranium enrichment activities.
"But ... if they want to construct a nuclear energy power plant, they would
have, in cooperation with the European Union and other members of the
international community, the best and most sophisticated technology," he said.
"If they reject that, it would mean that what they want is something different."
Other ministers echoed that sentiment.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he counts on the fact
that "there remains common sense in the government in Tehran" to accept the
offer.
"If they are prepared to (comply with IAEA recommendations), there could be
real advantages in tackling the problems that Iran itself says that it is
seeking to address," British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett
said.
