http://www.nzherald.co.nz/latestnewsstory.cfm?storyID=3604894&thesection=new s&thesubsection=world
EU trio and Iran fail to reach nuke deal 28.10.2004 5.24 pm VIENNA - France, Britain and Germany have failed to persuade Iran to scrap a programme that could give it the capacity to build nuclear weapons but both sides agreed to meet again soon. In Tehran, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that his country would abandon the talks if the European trio made "illogical demands". The European Union is offering Iran peaceful nuclear technology in exchange for an indefinite suspension of all uranium enrichment activities. At Vienna talks on the EU proposal, Iran reiterated it would not abandon uranium enrichment, which can produce fuel for reactors or material for weapons, but was still discussing a suspension of enrichment activities. "We told the Europeans that cessation of uranium enrichment is non-negotiable but regarding suspension the time limit should be clarified. We're not going to accept a five-year or 10-year suspension," Hossein Mousavian, one of Iran's top nuclear negotiators, told Iranian state television. But he said Iran has yet to give its final answer. "Regarding the suspension (of uranium enrichment) as a confidence-building measure, we have not given our final answer yet," Mousavian said. The United States accuses oil and gas-rich Iran of trying to make an atomic bomb behind the veil of a civilian nuclear programme. Iran says it only wants to produce electricity. If Iran rejects the offer, diplomats say most European nations will back US demands that it be reported to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions when the UN's nuclear watchdog meets in November. "Some progress was made towards identifying the elements of a common approach to the issues and the two sides agreed to meet again shortly," a British Foreign Office spokesman said. Sirus Naseri, a member of Iran's delegation in Vienna, said there was no breakthrough at the talks but it would have been premature to expect one at this point. "We are at the bottom of the first inning. We are at the beginning (of the negotiation process)," he said. "We are both trying to make an effort to make the best use of the time so that we have an agreement, if possible, by the board meeting (on November 25)," Naseri said, adding that the two sides would meet again next week. Khamenei said charges that Iran was trying to build nuclear weapons were aimed at stifling the Islamic republic's progress. "I am telling those who are in talks with Iran's representatives to avoid illogical demands...because in that case the Iranian nation and the Islamic system will abandon the talks," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said. "They know that Iran is not pursuing nuclear weapons. Therefore, they are trying to hinder Iran's development by creating pretexts," he told senior officials in his first comments on the issue in at least a month. Once an indefinite suspension is verifiably in place, the EU trio has pledged to discuss a full solution, which could include help with Iran's civilian nuclear technology and a trade deal in return for scrapping nuclear fuel cycle activities for good. French, German and British officials first put their proposal to Iranian negotiators in Vienna last week. One European diplomat said there was concern Iran may agree to freeze enrichment and then drag out talks to buy time and ease political pressure as it did in a similar 2003 deal. Iran agreed last year to temporarily halt all uranium enrichment activities and signed up to snap inspections of its nuclear facilities in a bid to counter US-led charges. Iran's suspension of enrichment has remained in place but it has resumed making and assembling centrifuges, the machines that enrich uranium. It has also said it plans to convert 37 tonnes of raw uranium into the feed material for centrifuges. The IAEA, at its last board meeting in September, called on Iran to halt all such activities. Hardline Iranian MPs, who control a majority in Iran's parliament, introduced a bill on Tuesday that would oblige the government to resume enrichment and halt snap inspections. Government officials have said they would have no choice but to obey such a bill if enacted but diplomats said Iran was using it as a bargaining tool ahead of Wednesday's talks. - REUTERS ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> $9.95 domain names from Yahoo!. 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