AFP: Speaking shortly after the European Union submitted proposals aimed at ending the standoff over Iran’s nuclear program, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said Friday he hoped Tehran would “hear the voice of reason” and abandon its uranium conversion plans. If it did not, he warned in an interview with Europe 1 radio, it was certain that Iran would be hauled before the UN Security Council, where it would face possible sanctions. AFP
PARIS – Speaking shortly after the European Union submitted proposals aimed at ending the standoff over Iran’s nuclear program, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said Friday he hoped Tehran would “hear the voice of reason” and abandon its uranium conversion plans.
If it did not, he warned in an interview with Europe 1 radio, it was certain that Iran would be hauled before the UN Security Council, where it would face possible sanctions.
With Britain and Germany, France is a member of the so-called EU-3 that has been negotiating with Iran to obtain guarantees that its nuclear program is peaceful.
But Tehran is threatening to resume sensitive uranium conversion work, part of the nuclear fuel cycle.
“I hope that the Iranians will not close the door on negotiations,” Douste-Blazy said. “I hope Iran will heed the voice of reason.”
But if Iran resumes conversion, “then it is certain that the international community will ask the Security Council to intervene,” he said.
The European Union on Friday submitted a package of proposals to Iran aimed at ending its long-running standoff over Tehran’s nuclear programme, a source close to the negotiations said in Tehran.
Douste-Blazy refused to divulge what the package offered beyond saying it contained “trade accords” and “cooperation accords in the technological area.”
The propositions were “ambitious and generous,” he said, and “were interesting because they open new perspectives for Iran in its ties with Europe and with the rest of the international community.”
He also said it was “utterly normal that a country, as long as it cannot make an atomic bomb, asks for security guarantees.”
Douste-Blazy added: “These are propositions concerning civilian nuclear work. It has nothing to do with refusing civilian nuclear activities for Iran.”
The European Union, he said, was “prepared to support” a Iranian civilian nuclear programme.
“I hope we will best use the coming days to negotiate with them,” he said.
