June 24, 2007
Iran, EU Pledge to Continue Nuclear Talks
Lisbon
Iran and the European Union have agreed to continue talks aimed at
ending an impasse over Tehran's nuclear programme, according to
Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani and EU foreign policy
chief Javier Solana.
Larijani and Solana, after a meeting in Lisbon Saturday, agreed to
hold further talks in three weeks time.
Iran has so far refused demands to halt its uranium enrichment
programme, even after the UN Security Council imposed targeted
sanctions in March. Iran could soon face a third UN resolution,
which could include financial sanctions, if it does not comply.
The Iran-EU talks were necessary to "keep the lines of communication
open", said Cristina Gallach, Solana's spokesperson in Lisbon. "Our
intention is to continue exploring the possibility of initiating
formal negotiations."
Larijani, in Vienna on Friday, said a meeting with International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) head Mohamed ElBaradei was successful
and said the two sides reached a "relatively good framework" for
settling the issue.
He did not disclose any details of such a framework but just said
that "the next step" could only start after clearing political
aspects with Solana.
ElBaradei said he hoped that in the next few weeks the relevant
sides would be able to draw a plan of action to be implemented
within two months.
The Security Council's five permanent members plus Germany have
insisted Tehran suspend enrichment before formal talks could begin.
Western nations accuse Iran of seeking to build a nuclear weapon,
while Tehran insists its programme is entirely for peaceful
purposes.
Iran is seeking talks without any preconditions, and has promised to
come up with a guarantee, proving that Iran's nuclear programmes are
peaceful and not following military goals.
Observers believe that Larijani has promised the IAEA's ElBaradei
Iran's renewed implementation of the IAEA Additional Protocol -
allowing snap inspections of the country's nuclear sites - under the
condition that the Iranian case is returned from the UN Security
Council to the IAEA.
In that case, observers added, Iran might agree to reduce
temporarily the level of its enrichment process to research purposes
rather than upgrading it to industrial scale.
"As mentioned by ElBaradei, the West should stop living in the past
and rather adopt itself to the fact that Iran has reached potential
for enrichment anyway," Larijani said.
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