AFP: The international community is “lacking imagination” in terms of its negotiations with Iran over its nuclear programme, French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said in an interview Tuesday. LONDON, Feb 6, 2007 (AFP) – The international community is “lacking imagination” in terms of its negotiations with Iran over its nuclear programme, French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said in an interview Tuesday.
“I am very worried on Iran. I think that the international community is also lacking imagination on Iran,” De Villepin said in an interview with the Financial Times, Britain’s leading business daily.
“Iran with nuclear military capacity is unacceptable. Iran must respect its international engagements, notably the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which it has signed,” he told the FT, speaking from Paris.
The West, led by the United States, accuses Iran of seeking to acquire an atomic bomb through its nuclear programme, which Tehran insists is solely for peaceful purposes.
The UN Security Council adopted sanctions against Iran in December over Tehran’s repeated refusal to fully cooperate with the UN atomic energy watchdog or suspend uranium enrichment.
“We must show Iran that firstly it has more to lose than gain from an enrichment programme that worries the international community, but also that if Iran accepts to respect its international obligations, it has much more to gain than to lose,” De Villepin said.
“We must combine dialogue with firmness in our approach. I think the US and Europe can go further in dialogue and proposals.”
Recent reports revealed Iran has begun the installation of 3,000 centrifuges in a huge underground bunker at its main nuclear facility in the central town of Natanz.
