Merkel said she was disappointed that talks between Iran and the powers — the United States, France, Germany, China, Russia and Britain — ended on Saturday without progress.
“It is up to Iran to dispel doubts which remain over its atomic programme,” she told a meeting of German diplomats, adding that Tehran must see to it that the talks move along in a positive way. “Otherwise, things will continue along the sanctions route,” she said.
The talks, held in the Turkish city of Istanbul and which ended with no clear agreement to meet again, were meant to address Iran’s dispute with countries that fear it may be developing nuclear weapons.
Tehran says its nuclear programme is peaceful and has ignored U.N. Security Council resolutions demanding it suspend uranium enrichment, the process that can make fuel for atomic power plants or, if done to a very high level, the fissile core of a nuclear bomb.
The prospect of an Iranian atom bomb fans fears of a broader Middle East conflict should the United States or Israel decide to attack Iran, a possible last-ditch option if diplomacy were to fail.
(Reporting by Thorsten Severin, writing by Brian Rohan; editing by David Stamp)
