Jordan Times (News Section)

Europeans warn Iran not to resume 'sensitive' work

Agencies

France, Britain and Germany have warned Iran they will break = off talks=20 and join Washington in seeking UN Security Council action if = Tehran makes=20 good on its threats to resume atomic work, EU officials said on = Thursday.=20

The foreign ministers of the European Union's three biggest = powers sent=20 a strongly-worded letter to Hassan Rohani, Iran's chief nuclear=20 negotiator, warning that resuming potentially arms-related nuclear = work=20 "would bring the negotiating process to an end," an EU diplomat = quoted the=20 letter as saying. "The consequences could only be negative for = Iran," it=20 said.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair spelled out the potential=20 consequences, telling reporters: "We certainly will support = referral to=20 the United Nations Security Council if Iran breaches its = obligations and=20 undertakings."

The United States believes Iran's nuclear energy programme is a = front=20 to develop atomic weapons and has been pressing for Iran's case to = be sent=20 to the 15-member UN council for possible economic sanctions and = other=20 actions. "Iran needs to abide by its international obligations," = White=20 House Spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters. He said Tehran = needed to=20 refrain from enrichment as "an objective guarantee... that Iran is = not=20 developing nuclear weapons."

The EU shares US suspicions but has offered incentives to try = to get=20 Tehran to give up its atomic fuel programme, which Iran insists is = only=20 for nuclear power plants, not for arms. The EU letter proposed=20 "ministerial level talks" between the Iranians and Europeans = within the=20 next two weeks to break the impasse and avoid a crisis, EU = diplomats said.=20

Warning from Iran

Iran refuses to give up uranium fuel production, which it says = is its=20 sovereign right. Tired with the slow pace of talks, Tehran has = informed=20 the EU that time is running out and it will soon resume parts of = its=20 uranium enrichment programme.

The new EU warning may have had an immediate effect. Officials = close to=20 the issue said Tehran might give talks with the EU one last chance = rather=20 than go ahead with plans to break UN seals and restart part of its = nuclear=20 fuel programme.

Only hours earlier, a diplomat close to the Vienna-based = International=20 Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) told Reuters the UN agency was = expecting a=20 letter from Iran saying Tehran would restart part of its nuclear = fuel=20 programme.

Tehran's chief delegate to the IAEA, Sirus Naseri, arrived in = Vienna on=20 Wednesday with a letter for IAEA chief Mohammad Baradei, but he = may not=20 deliver it, diplomats said.

One official said the Iranians had held meetings with the = Europeans in=20 recent days, fostering new hope for negotiations that began in = November=20 after Tehran agreed to suspend all activities linked to the = enrichment of=20 uranium.

But Rohani said Tehran would no longer feel bound by the = nuclear=20 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if it was denied the right to = pursue a full=20 civilian nuclear energy programme.

"If Iran cannot use its legitimate rights in the framework of = the NPT,=20 it will no longer have respect for the treaty," the semi-official = ISNA=20 students news agency cited Rohani as saying.

A senior diplomat close to the IAEA told Reuters he was = convinced Iran=20 would not resume any enrichment activities until well after the = country's=20 June 17 presidential election.

It is no accident the latest crisis in the EU-Iran talks comes = a month=20 before the election, European diplomats said.

Political analysts say top presidential candidate Akbar Hashemi = Rafsanjani, whose allies are leading the nuclear negotiations with = the EU,=20 stands to benefit from an escalation in international tensions. =

Aides of the influential former president portray him as an = experienced=20 deal maker who could resolve the standoff. On Wednesday, = Rafsanjani backed=20 talks with the EU and said Iran must be patient.

Meanwhile, a Russian nuclear official told AFP Thursday that = Iran's=20 intention to restart nuclear activities is "legitimate" and will = not alter=20 Russia's nuclear cooperation with the Islamic state.

"The fact that Iran has restarted conversion will not have an = impact on=20 nuclear cooperation between Russia and Iran," said the official, = speaking=20 on condition she not be named.

"This does not threaten international security because this = uranium=20 will be used for peaceful ends and under the strict IAEA control," = the=20 official said.

"It is legitimate and legal," official said, adding that = differences=20 between Russia and the United States regarding Moscow's nuclear=20 cooperation with Iran were "narrowing."

In a newspaper interview published Thursday, the head of = Russia's=20 atomic energy agency, Alexander Rumyantsev, said Russia planned to = make=20 its first delivery of nuclear fuel to Iran at the end of the year = or early=20 next year.

Russia and Iran signed an agreement in February under which = Iran agreed=20 that all spent nuclear fuel from the civilian reactor being built = at=20 Bushehr under Russian direction would be repatriated directly to = Russia=20 for reprocessing.

"They have to start to fire it up in mid-2006," Rumyantsev = said,=20 referring to the Bushehr reactor. "The fuel has to be at the plant = six=20 months before that."

Under the accord between Russia and Iran signed in February, = Russia is=20 to send nearly 100 tonnes of fuel to Iran in several consignments = under=20 IAEA supervision. Tehran initially rejected the condition that it=20 repatriate to Russia the spent nuclear fuel, but relented after = two years=20 of negotiations.

"All the necessary precautions have been made in line with=20 international standards," Rumyantsev said.

Friday-Saturday, May 13-14, 2005