AFP: The EU has warned Iran in writing that progress at a meeting Friday ahead of possible punitive UN action is totally dependent on Iran stopping uranium enrichment and cooperating with UN nuclear inspections.
VIENNA, March 2, 2006 (AFP) – The EU has warned Iran in writing that progress at a meeting Friday ahead of possible punitive UN action is totally dependent on Iran stopping uranium enrichment and cooperating with UN nuclear inspections.
“Anything short of this would result in a public disagreement, which would set back our shared objectives,” said a letter from the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany, as well as European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, that was obtained by AFP.
The letter, which a diplomat said was delivered Tuesday to Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani, sets “out in advance some of the considerations that will be critical for success,” the text said.
“In our judgement, for such a meeting to be productive, we would need to conclude with a clear public commitment from Iran to return immediately to the status quo ante,” the letter said, referring to Iran’s agreement to suspend uranium enrichment, which makes nuclear reactor fuel but what can also be atom bomb material.
