World powers gathered in London on Wednesday to try to break a deadlock over how to stop Iran enriching uranium, as Tehran again warned against military intervention.
Senior officials from the United States, Germany, United Kingdom, Russia and China will discuss a European proposal at the closed-door talks to offer Tehran incentives to suspend uranium-enrichment work.
The meeting has been called amid an escalating international stand-off over an Iranian civilian nuclear power programme, which the US claims hides the development of atomic weapons.
The European Union’s ”big three” — Britain, France and Germany — are hoping to coax Iran into suspending uranium-enrichment work in exchange for a package of trade and technology incentives.
However, they want Russia and China to join in sanctions, including an arms embargo, if Iran does not agree, according to a draft proposal seen by Agence France-Presse.
And just ahead of the talks, a report emerged of differences of opinion within the US administration over strategy.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had ”gone out on a limb” to back the European package of trade and technology incentives but had met resistance from Vice-President Dick Cheney, the Financial Times newspaper reported.
Cheney is said to be against the idea of ”rewarding bad behaviour” after Iran allegedly breached its nuclear safeguards commitments, according to the newspaper report based on comments from diplomats and analysts.
It said that the divisions were complicating the EU proposal that world powers support Iran’s building of several light-water reactors, set up a nuclear fuel bank and have the US drop restrictions on Iran’s buying of US commercial airplanes, if Tehran takes steps to guarantee it will not make nuclear weapons.
But if Tehran does not do this, sanctions should follow, including an arms embargo, according to the proposal.
The newspaper said some European diplomats think the US will back their proposals if Russia supports a tough United Nations resolution that would require Iran to suspend uranium enrichment.
During a tour of Arab Gulf countries Kuwait and Qatar on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow supports the EU proposal and urged Tehran to cooperate.
Asked if Russia would back military action against Iran if the proposed negotiations collapsed, Lavrov declined to answer but insisted that Moscow does not support the use of force ”in principle”.
The US, Britain, France, China and Russia are the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, which has the power to endorse sanctions or US military strikes, an option which is nonetheless broadly opposed.
An Iranian dissident group, the National Council of Resistance, said it would hold a rally outside the foreign office in London at midday when the meeting is expected to begin.
Diplomatic sources said the talks were taking place at the foreign office.
Few details have been released on the meeting, which follows preliminary talks among the three EU countries and the US in London on Tuesday.
Iran’s hard-line government has already rejected the European offer and insisted its uranium-enrichment programme is not up for negotiation.
In Tehran earlier, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad boasted that the Islamic republic had ”mastered the entire nuclear fuel cycle” and that it would give an ”historic slap” to any attacker.
The US has refused to rule out military action.
Iran says it wants to use the fuel cycle only to make civilian reactor fuel, and argues such work for peaceful purposes is a ”right” enshrined by the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
But the same technology can be extended to make atomic weapons, and the US in particular claims Iran is merely exploiting a loophole in the NPT.
Citing US officials, Iranian analysts and foreign diplomats, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that Iran had requested, through intermediaries, direct talks with Washington over its nuclear programme.
The requests follow a May 8 letter from Ahmadinejad to US President George Bush, the first such communication between an Iranian and US leader in more than 25 years.
But President Bush expressed doubts in Washington on Tuesday that Iran wanted a negotiated solution to the dispute.
The US leader renewed a vow to defend Israel against any attack by Iran at a White House summit with new Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. — AFP
