The United States and the United Kingdom said on Tuesday Iran could soon face sanctions because it showed no sign of halting sensitive nuclear work, while the European Union said the latest talks had been helpful but had brought no breakthrough.
A senior Iranian atomic official said suspending uranium enrichment, which the West says Iran wants to use to build atomic bombs, would not solve the nuclear stand-off.
The deputy head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation, Mohammad Saeedi, instead suggested France could invest in Iran’s nuclear industry, enabling it to supervise Tehran’s work.
Similar proposals for foreign investment in the past found no takers. The West has opposed plans that would keep enrichment on Iranian soil and allow Tehran to master the technology.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who has been trying to coax Iran into halting enrichment, said a telephone conversation on Monday with Iran’s nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani was constructive but brought no breakthrough.
”We still have some elements that need to be agreed. We will continue talking,” Solana said, adding that the proposal for French monitoring was interesting but needed more analysis.
A French Foreign Ministry spokesperson said there were no direct talks between Paris and Tehran.
”We consider that in this affair, there is unity between the six countries,” spokesperson Jean-Baptiste Mattei said, adding that the Larijani-Solana meetings were the forum for dialogue.
The US, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany have offered Iran economic and political incentives to halt enrichment. In its reply, Iran hinted at some flexibility over suspension but not as a precondition for talks.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in Saudi Arabia there was no evidence Iran would halt enrichment.
”Should it not, then the only choice for the international community is to live up to the terms of resolution 1696 … and that means to bring sanctions,” she said.
A senior British official, who declined to be named, said world powers were preparing to draft UN sanctions against Iran as talks had failed so far to yield a deal. He said Solana had reported back that Larijani gave a clear ”No” to suspension.
”We are intensifying preparatory efforts for what should be in a resolution,” the British official said.
Iran failed to suspend enrichment by an August 31 deadline set by the UN Security Council but US calls for swift moves towards sanctions have met resistance from some European states, keen for more talks, and opposition from Russia and China.
Iran’s stalling has been a cause of increasing frustration in Washington. But German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday that the US should not consider acting alone.
”Even with all its might, the world power America also knows: without partners even America is not capable of successfully countering new threats of our time,” she said.
‘Best Solution’
Iran has shrugged off the sanctions threat, which would probably start with modest penalties such as freezing assets or travel bans on officials. Iran, the world’s fourth-largest oil exporter, feels it can cope with such steps.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has insisted in recent days that Iran will not be deflected from its nuclear plans.
The president is not the most powerful figure in Iran’s system of clerical rule, which gives the final word to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to whom Larijani answers.
”The best solution to remove concerns about Iran’s nuclear intentions is not to demand Iran suspend uranium enrichment activities,” Saeedi told Reuters.
”We have an idea, which can be the best solution, technically and legally. France can create a consortium, like Eurodif and Areva, to produce enriched uranium in Iran,” Saeedi said.
”Through such participation, they can also closely monitor our activities.”
French state-owned Areva owns Eurodif, Europe’s largest uranium enrichment plant.
Iran insists its plans are aimed at making fuel for nuclear power plants. Its first nuclear power plant, being built by Russians, is still under construction. — Reuters