Representatives of the five permanent members of the United
Nations Security Council plus Germany reiterated in New York on
Friday their call for Iran to suspend nuclear activities.
"The proliferation of risks of the Iranian nuclear program remain a source of
serious concern to the international society," said a joint
statement by the US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany
after their meeting on Iran.
"We seek a negotiated solution that would address the
international community's concerns over Iran's nuclear program,"
said the statement, noting Iran should suspend its
enrichment-related and reprocessing activities to make way for the
negotiations.
Javier Solana, the EU High Representative for Common Foreign and
Security Policy, has been asked to meet with Ali Larijani,
Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, to lay the
foundation for the future negotiations, the statement said.
The six countries demanded Iran fulfill the requirements of UN
Security Council Resolutions 1737 and 1747, including the
suspension of its enrichment and reprocessing activities, or it
will face a new sanction resolution from the Security Council.
"We agree to finalize a text for a third UN Security Council
sanctions resolution ... unless the November reports of Dr. Solana
and Dr. El Baradei show a positive outcome of their efforts," the
statement warned.
Solana and El Baradei, chief of the International Atomic Energy
Agency, have been sparing no effort for years to negotiate with
Iran over its nuclear program.
Solana has held long-running talks with Larijani offering
economic and security incentives if Iran halts its most sensitive
nuclear work.
The US has long accused Iran of trying to develop nuclear
weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program. Iran always
denies the US charges and insists that its nuclear program is for
peaceful purposes only.
Taking the lead to work out a tougher resolution by the Security
Council to press Iran to give up its nuclear program, US Secretary
of State chaired the Friday meeting in a bid to reach an agreement
on Iran.
The UN Security Council has adopted two resolutions - one in
December 2006 and the other in March this year - to force Iran to
suspend uranium enrichment activities and to give up its nuclear
program.
Facing Iran's defiant of world demands, the US and Russia have
different views over the issues of imposing new sanctions against
Iran's disputed nuclear program.
Russia is currently opposed to impose new sanctions, which will
be the third if it is adopted by the UN Security Council, Russian
mass media quoted its foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, as reporting
on Thursday.
The UN Security Council should give Iran more time to carry out
its agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),
said Lavrov, who was here attending the UN General Assembly at the
time.
In response to what Lavrov said, US Ambassador to the United
Nations Zalmay Khalilzad told reporters the IAEA agreement was a
technical one and should not delay any action by the Security
Council.
"That cannot be used as a shield to protect Iran from its lack
of implementation of the demands of the Security Council in regard
to the enrichment of uranium that Iran has been asked to suspend
twice," he said.
It was reported that Lavrov and US Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice exchanged sharp words at a meeting of major
industrial states here Wednesday when he condemned Western moves to
take unilateral sanctions outside the UN framework if the Security
Council was deadlocked.
Germany, the biggest European trading partner of Iran, is
believed to have been taking a neutral stand, insisting that
further sanctions must be within the UN framework and conditional
on avoiding the use of military force against the Islamic
Republic.
(Xinhua News Agency September 29, 2007)
