Representatives from six global powers met today in Brussels to consider their next moves in dealing with Iran's disputed nuclear activities, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Nov. 19).
(Nov. 20) -
International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei, shown in October, said today he hoped that world powers would not impose additional sanctions on Iran (Samuel Kubani/Getty Images).
The meeting came two days after Tehran appeared to reject the latest compromise offer, to have 70 percent of its stockpile of low-enriched uranium undergo further refinement in France and Russia. It also followed U.S. President Barack Obama's statement yesterday that Washington and its allies expected in a matter of weeks to establish a new set of possible sanctions.
Today's meeting -- involving China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States -- "is to review the latest developments on the Iran nuclear issue," according to a spokeswoman for European Union foreign policy head Javier Solana (Agence France-Presse I/Spacewar.com, Nov. 20).
There was no detailed consideration at the session of additional penalties against Iran, one top EU official said.
"We are disappointed by the lack of follow-up on the three understandings reached (in the proposed deal)," the six nations said in a prepared statement "We urge Iran to reconsider the opportunity offered by this agreement ... and to engage seriously with us in dialogue and negotiations."
Another meeting of the six states is expected in short order, Reuters reported.
"We are talking about weeks, not months. It's a question of whether we meet before or after Christmas," according to one official (Brunnstrom/Graham, Reuters I, Nov. 20).
International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei, who offered the formal plan to Tehran, said he hoped the six states would not pursue additional sanctions, AFP reported. Iran has already been hit with three rounds of U.N. Security Council sanctions.
"I think the group of six are partly meeting in an environment of desperation," ElBaradei, who is in his final days as head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, said in Berlin. "I haven't really talked to them but again, they talk about the dual track [of diplomatic outreach and economic penalties], but to me the second track is a dead-end street."
ElBaradei's plan was intended to reduce immediate fears that Iran could use its existing stock of low-enriched uranium to produce weapon-grade material. Leaders in other states hoped that the proposal could also give them breathing room for further negotiations aimed at permanently halting Iran's uranium enrichment operations, which could produce reactor fuel but also weapons material. Iran has rejected calls to halt its work, saying the program is strictly civilian in nature.
Any transaction should occur within Iranian borders, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Wednesday (Agence France-Presse I).
"It would appear from what Mottaki said that we're at a turning point here" in the diplomatic effort, a high-level U.S. official told the Wall Street Journal. "We're being forced to look at the other track in the dual-track policy (financial pressure) because of Iran's response" (Jay Solomon, Wall Street Journal, Nov. 20).
ElBaradei and others said it was too soon to call the deal dead.
"I do not consider that I have received a final answer," ElBaradei said, according to AFP. "But I also very much hope that I will get an answer pretty much soon."
"We have not received any written response from Iran. What I got of course is an oral response, which basically said 'we need to keep all the material in Iran until we get the fuel,'" he added. "That to me is a case of extreme mistrust."
ElBaradei said "the ball is very much in the Iranian court" and that he hoped to see a deal sealed before 2010 (Agence France-Presse II/Spacewar.com, Nov. 20).
There is still "every chance" that the proposal could become reality, a Moscow official said yesterday.
"At the current moment it is important to let diplomacy work, and superfluous emotions only harm the situation," said Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko in a prepared statement (Agence France-Presse III, Nov. 19).
China and Russia remain the wild cards in any effort to impose further U.N. sanctions on Iran, the Associated Press reported. Both states have close economic ties with Tehran and have resisted previous attempts at forceful punishment.
However, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in recent weeks has left the door open for a new round of penalties.
"This is probably why [Obama] thinks that he can discuss sanctions now without it being blown out of the water within five minutes by the Chinese and the Russians," Stephen Cohen, head of the Institute for Middle East Peace and Development, told AP.
U.S. lawmakers are already working on strategies for punishing Iran over its nuclear intransigence. While working through the U.N. Security Council is its preference, the Obama administration could employ sanctions in combination with the European Union (Robert Burns, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Nov. 20).
Meanwhile, IAEA inspectors this week are conducting their second examination of Iran's recently disclosed and still not operational uranium enrichment site at Qum, Reuters reported.
Tehran acknowledged the facility's existence in September, saying it was intended to serve as a backup in the event of an attack against the nation's primary enrichment site at Natanz. Some observers have said the size of the plant suggests it would only be able to produce enough material for nuclear weapons, rather than for atomic energy reactors.
The U.N. officials hope to learn more about the layout of the facility along with details regarding the time line of construction and its purpose. They also want to meet with the plant chief and designers.
Iran has rejected any suggestion that the late unveiling of the Qum site indicates that Iran is also operating other secret nuclear facilities. Observers have said there is a likelihood of support facilities for the Qum plant.
"Iran almost certainly has additional unreported nuclear facilities. [Qum] doesn't make sense otherwise. Iran's own stated logic implies that they would have a second uranium conversion plant, as a backup in case the Isfahan plant [aligned with Natanz] is bombed," said Mark Fitzpatrick, chief proliferation analyst at London's International Institute for Strategic Studies (Mark Heinrich, Reuters II/The Star, Nov. 19).