Hope for diplomatic solution to Iran crisis

Senior European Union officials stressed that a diplomatic solution over Iran’s nuclear programme is still possible but also appeared to leave open the possibility of Tehran being hit by sanctions.

EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said yesterday at the start of a two-day meeting of EU foreign ministers in Salzburg, Austria: “The (United Nations) Security Council is not the end of the diplomatic route.”

The EU – after failing to persuade Tehran to give up uranium enrichment – has gradually moved closer to the US view that Iran is working toward a nuclear weapon, an accusation that Iran denies. Iran insists it only wants to generate nuclear power.

The dispute has moved to the UN Security Council.

Ms Ferrero-Waldner said: “It is clear that we can still reach a diplomatic solution ... we don’t want to isolate Iran, and Iran should also not isolate Iran.”

Javier Solana, the EU’s foreign policy chief, said that “everything is on the table, everything is open” when asked about a report in which he was quoted as saying that sanctions cannot be excluded at some stage.

“We are only at the beginning. I don’t exclude sanctions but it depends on the type of sanctions. We certainly don’t want to target the Iranian people,” Mr Solana said.

He told reporters that there was “some room for diplomacy”.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he would not be opposed to talks with Iran on how to resolve differences, as proposed yesterday by Russia.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the talks should include Russia, the US, China, the three EU nations of France, Germany and Britain that have been negotiating with Iran, and the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Mr Steinmeier said he expected that, as a first step, the presidency of the UN Security Council would issue a statement backing up the IAEA and calling upon Iran to answer outstanding questions.

“Then, we’ll see,” Mr Steinmeier said.

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy also underscored the need for diplomacy.

“I think that now more than ever there should be negotiations,” he said. “One must believe in negotiations, one must believe in diplomacy, one must believe in reason.”

Mr Douste-Blazy said the EU had decided to stay in ”permanent contact” with the US and in ”tight” contact with Russia and China. France would do all it can to “preserve the unity of the international community,” he added.

The conditions Iran was being asked to comply with were ”simple” and “legitimate”, he said.

Earlier, Ms Ferrero-Waldner said a Russian proposal to enrich uranium for Iran on Russian soil was also still an option, and she encouraged Tehran to seize it.

“The Russian compromise solution is still on the table. Iran should take this solution,” she said.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said there would be ”extensive consultations” now among the US, Britain, France, Russia and China, the Security Council’s five permanent members, about Iran.

“We very much hope, although it is late in the day, that this matter can be (resolved) by diplomatic negotiations,” Straw added. “Let us take this thing one step at a time.”