EU powers say Iran on path of “confrontation”

Reuters: Three European Union heavyweights accused Iran on Thursday of continuing “down the path of non-compliance and confrontation” with its nuclear work, four days before world powers are to resume talks with Tehran.

VIENNA, Dec 2 (Reuters) – Three European Union heavyweights accused Iran on Thursday of continuing “down the path of non-compliance and confrontation” with its nuclear work, four days before world powers are to resume talks with Tehran.

In a statement read out at a closed-door meeting of the 35-nation governing board of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, Germany, France and Britain urged Iran to address their concerns about the nature of its nuclear programme.

“There is no alternative: Iran must actively address the lack of confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of its nuclear programme,” it said, according to a copy made available to Reuters.

Talks between Iran and six big powers — the United States, France, Russia, Britain, China and Germany — are due to resume next week in Geneva in the first such meeting in more than year.

“We are convinced that this is an opportunity for Iran to demonstrate its readiness to engage and to address the substance of our concerns on the nuclear issue in good faith, while other issues of mutual interest can be addressed as well,” the statement said. (Reporting by Fredrik Dahl and Sylvia Westall)