AFP: The European Union will not accept a resumption of any nuclear arms activitiy by Iran, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douse-Blazy said Tuesday after talks with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. “The Europeans will never accept a resumption of the Iranian military nuclear activity,” he told reporters with Rice by his side after their meeting at the State Department. AFP
WASHINGTON – The European Union will not accept a resumption of any nuclear arms activitiy by Iran, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douse-Blazy said Tuesday after talks with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
“The Europeans will never accept a resumption of the Iranian military nuclear activity,” he told reporters with Rice by his side after their meeting at the State Department.
Rice stressed the need for a complete halt to Iran’s nuclear activities, saying she saw no immediate need for a civilian nuclear program for the Islamic state.
She said that based on a Paris agreement between France, Britain and Germany or the EU-3, and Iran in November 2004, Iran should suspend its uranium enrichment activity ahead of a full stop to its nuclear programs.
“The Paris agreement is initially about suspension but ultimately the world has to be assured that Iran cannot have this capacity and that (there) would ultimately have to be objective guarantees and we believe that means cessation,” Rice explained.
“But as as a starting point, and these negotiations are now under way, the first and most important step has been to make certain that the suspension is maintained.
“But no, we believe that it has to be cessation,” she said when asked whether a suspension of Iran’s nuclear activities would be sufficient.
