Beckett urges Iran to end nuclear activities
The foreign secretary has today urged Iran to comply with the UN security council’s demand to stop the enrichment of uranium.
Margaret Beckett expressed her “regret” that Tehran had failed to suspend all its enrichment-related and processing activities by yesterday’s deadline, and said its actions would demand “further action” by the security council.
However, she made clear that the international community was not yet ready to take the next logical step of imposing sanctions on the Islamic state, saying: “Our goal remains a negotiated solution.”
Last night the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that Iran had not suspended its nuclear activities, but it also said there was no direct evidence that the country was using its nuclear technology to develop weapons.
The US has consistently asserted that Tehran’s ultimate goal is to build nuclear weapons – something Iran denies – and yesterday the country’s UN ambassador, Jon Bolton, made clear he still believed this was the case.
“There is simply no explanation for the range of Iranian behaviour.other than they’re pursuing a weapons capability. The report makes clear that not only has Iran not suspended uranium enrichment activities. it’s accelerated them,” he said.
However, the European Union has taken a much more conciliatory step – EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana is due to meet with Iran’s nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, next week, and will not raise the issue of sanctions during the discussions.
“I hope very much that we will be able to solve this problem with Iran, which is a very serious one that we have, through diplomacy,’ Mr Solana told reporters today.
In a statement released this lunchtime, Mrs Beckett said she would be studying the IAEA report and “consulting our international partners on next steps”.
She would meet with France and Germany (the E3) shortly to discuss what should now happen, following Iran’s failure to comply with the UN security council resolution 1696.
But Mrs Beckett stressed: “Our goal remains a negotiated solution on the basis of the E3 plus 3’s far reaching proposals of June. Javier Solana remains in contact with Ali Larijani about the Iranian reply to our proposals.
“I regret that Iran has not taken the steps required by the security council. I urge Iran once again to do so, which would allow negotiations to resume.”
