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Surprise way out for Iran
PRAGUE - British, French and German foreign
ministers are claiming to have met with success in their
talks with Iranian officials on the country's nuclear
program on Monday, at the same time attaching a
surprising condition the deal.
The negotiations
were aimed at convincing Iran to meet an October 31
deadline to prove to the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) that it is not developing nuclear weapons.
Diplomats from the three countries say that their
foreign ministers told Iranian officials that if Tehran
signs and ratifies the additional protocol and complies
with the IAEA demands, Britain, France and Germany could
be prepared to assist Iran in its civilian nuclear power
sector.
At the moment, Russia - which is
building Iran's first commercial nuclear power station
at Bushehr - is Tehran's only nuclear partner. It is not
known how the United States - which has repeatedly
pressured Moscow to renege on the Bushehr deal - will
view British, French or German involvement in Iran's
atomic power program.
Asked if the European
Union was defying the US by offering technical
assistance to Iran on its nuclear energy program, EU
foreign policy chief Javier Solana told France Inter
radio, "I don't know if 'defying' the United States is
the right word or not. We simply want to solve a very
difficult issue for the region via dialogue and
political means."
One thing is clear, however,
the US will keep a close eye on Iran. The White House on
Tuesday cautiously welcomed Tehran's promise to open its
nuclear program to intrusive inspections, calling it a
"positive step" if carried out.
The secretary of
Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Hasan Rowhani,
said Iran will suspend its uranium enrichment activities
and sign an additional protocol to the Nuclear
Nonproliferation Treaty that would give inspectors
expanded access to nuclear sites. The IAEA has given the
Tehran authorities until October 31 to hand over
documentary evidence of their country's entire nuclear
program and furnish proof that Iran is not pursuing a
nuclear weapons program. The IAEA's ultimatum came after
inspectors found trace samples of enriched uranium at
nuclear sites in Iran, raising questions about the
direction of the country's atomic program, which Iranian
leaders maintain is strictly civilian.
IAEA
spokeswoman Melissa Fleming, in a telephone interview
with RFE/RL from the organization's Vienna headquarters,
reiterated what is expected from Tehran: "What is
expected from Iran in the next several days, up until
the 31st of October, is a full disclosure of their past
nuclear activities related to their nuclear program, in
all areas. As you've probably seen, there have been a
number of questions raised from IAEA inspectors, through
intense investigation over the last several months.
These questions need to be answered to the satisfaction
of the international community."
Iran's failure
to comply could lead the IAEA's board of governors -
when it meets again at the end of November - to refer
the case to the United Nations Security Council for
possible sanctions. Iran's commitment to sign and ratify
the IAEA's additional protocol on inspections, if
fulfilled, will be seen as a significant milestone and a
victory for European diplomacy. France, Britain and
Germany have sought to contrast their approach of
constructive engagement toward Tehran with that of the
US, which has labeled Iran as part of an "axis of evil".
The additional protocol, approved by the IAEA's
board of governors in 1997, has been ratified by some 30
countries so far, including all 15 members of the
European Union. It gives IAEA monitors expanded access
to both declared and suspected nuclear facilities in a
particular country, at short notice. The IAEA is not
demanding that Iran sign the protocol by October 31,
when Tehran is supposed to make its report to the UN
body. But the nuclear watchdog does expect Tehran to
sign and ratify the protocol as soon as possible.
"Signing the additional protocol is extremely
important for the future. It is not required by the 31st
of October. However, the board did say [it wanted] the
immediate signature and then subsequently ratification
and implementation of the protocol. So the expectation
is that it happen quickly. But what they're looking for
as a priority is this full disclosure of information. We
need to first verify the past and then we need to be
able to control the future. And controlling the future
means that we have to have an additional protocol in
place," Fleming said.
The EU as a bloc is Iran's
biggest trading partner, with a US$13 billion annual
trade turnover. Britain, France and Germany are the EU's
largest economies, so this factor is certain to have
played a role in Monday's negotiations.
British
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw also stressed his country's
long-term commitment to dialogue with Tehran: "The
discussions which I have had over the past
two-and-a-half years in Tehran, in London, and elsewhere
with [Iranian Foreign Minister] Kamal Kharrazi and other
members of the Iranian government have been
constructive, even if they have sometimes been tough."
With the stick of potential UN sanctions poised
over Iran, the German, French and British foreign
ministers offered a carrot to Tehran.
Copyright (c) 2002, RFE/RL Inc. Reprinted
with the permission of Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty,
1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington DC 20036
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