Press Association: High-level talks on the Iranian nuclear stand-off will take place in London on Friday, the Foreign Office announced. Press Association
High-level talks on the Iranian nuclear stand-off will take place in London on Friday, the Foreign Office announced.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will fly into London to join Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett and representatives from France, Germany, Russia and China.
The so-called EU3+3 will discuss the latest situation days after the UK warned it was ready to seek economic sanctions against the Tehran regime.
Talks between EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani failed to secure a suspension of Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme.
And a British official said on Tuesday that preparations were under way to table a draft resolution at the United Nations Security Council in New York under Article 41 of the UN Charter which allows for economic sanctions.
“Unless there is a sudden unexpected change of heart by the Iranians, we can expect this to move to New York in the coming week or so,” he said.
A Foreign Office spokesman would not give any details of the discussions but said they were “pleased” all six nations had agreed to come together.
They would be looking for a way forward, he added.
The ministers agreed last month, during the UN General Assembly meeting in New York, that if Iran refused to suspend uranium enrichment work – a key step in developing a nuclear weapon – they would seek a new Security Council resolution under Article 41.
International efforts to persuade Iran to give up its nuclear programme have been continuing for the past three years. Tehran has already ignored a UN deadline of August 31 to suspend enrichment work. The country’s hardline president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has said he would not halt enrichment work for “one day”.
