Thursday, 11 May 2006
LONDON, May 11 (IranMania) - World powers are to confer again in London on May 19 to try to rescue their high-stakes effort to persuade Iran to renounce uranium enrichment, diplomats said, AFP reported.
European Union negotiators Britain, France and Germany were drawing up a package of incentives as well as possible sanctions if no deal was reached with Tehran, they said.
The three EU powers' foreign ministers would meet in Brussels on Monday to assemble the package, a senior European diplomat said.
EU foreign ministry political directors would then take it to London on May 19 seeking endorsement by China, Russia and the United States, the European diplomat said.
The package will be finished "over the next 10 days," another Western diplomat in Vienna said. If approved by all six powers, it would be presented to Tehran.
Both diplomats asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday that Washington was ready to wait "a couple of weeks" for the Europeans to make their proposal before pressing for tough UN action.
The five permanent Security Council members plus Germany are blocked over how to crack down on Iran's nuclear program after Tehran failed to comply with a Council call on March 29 for a halt to uranium enrichment, a process that makes nuclear reactor fuel but also atom bomb material.
The United States says Iran is using a civilian nuclear program to hide the development of atomic weapons.
Washington, along with Europe, favors a Security Council resolution that would require Iran to comply. This could open the door to sanctions, and even military action, if Iran continues to enrich uranium.
Iranian allies Russia and China oppose such a resolution, saying they fear an escalation of the crisis.
The EU powers are trying to find a package acceptable to Russia and China; promising Iran security, political and trade benefits if it suspends uranium enrichment but warning of sanctions if it does not.
The Europeans, backed by the United States, had offered benefits last August but Iran rejected this offer.
"The challenge is this: the revised incentives have to be good enough to persuade Russia and China that Iran has to accept them but not too good to scare off the United States from endorsing them," the Western diplomat said.
But at the same time, "the sanctions package has to be severe enough to satisfy the United States that it is serious but not so scary as to have Russia and China reject it," the diplomat said.
The deadlock between the major powers over a Security Council resolution was so serious that it was decided to "put in on the back burner while the EU-3 (Britain, France and Germany) try a different approach," the source said.
If approved May 19, the new package would "be presented to Iran with some deadline to accept the offer," namely suspend nuclear fuel work and get benefits or refuse and face possible sanctions, the Western diplomat said.
Iran had roundly rejected as insufficient the EU-3's offer in August of a promised trade agreement with the European Union and help in getting into the World Trade Organization.
"We must take the August offer and wrap it fresh," the European diplomat said. But he added: "I can't see that anything has changed with regards to the offer."
Thursday, May 11, 2006 - TŪ2005 IranMania.com
