Iran 'trying to split international community'

Key European nations are warning other countries that Iran is trying to weaken the international consensus against its contentious nuclear programme by stalling in its response to terms set by six world powers for negotiations, according to a confidential document obtained today by The Associated Press.

“The Iranian goal obviously is to split the international community,” said the document, drawn up by Britain, France and Germany, and made available to AP before a key meeting of the five UN Security Council nations plus Germany to co-ordinate a joint strategy over Iran’s refusal to suspend uranium enrichment.

The document, labelled “In Confidence,” was sent to dozens of capitals last week.

It summarises Iran’s response to a six-power offer to Iran dangling the prospect of technical economic and political rewards if it agrees to suspend enrichment before talks begin and to consider a long-term moratorium on the technology, which can be misused to make nuclear arms.

While not specifically threatening UN sanctions, the document says the Security Council will have to consider “further steps” if Tehran continues to defy the council by refusing to stop enrichment .

The six-power package, agreed to in June, warned of punishments, including UN sanctions, if Tehran does not halt enrichment – something Iran refused to do by an August 31 Security Council deadline.

Iran’s August 22 response to the offer has been kept confidential. But the United States and its allies have described it as unsatisfactory, primarily because of Tehran’s refusal to consider freezing enrichment.

Diplomats familiar with the document said it was drawn up by Britain, France and Germany – which are among the six nations that made the June offer – to inform other nations of the substance of Iran’s counteroffer and share the Western view that it was inadequate.

“The reply is along the lines of previous Iranian statements in that typically it neither accepts nor rejects outright” the six-power proposals, according to the document.

“By offering various carrots, like the hint that Iran is prepared to resume … suspension … the Iranian goal obviously is to split the international community and draw us into a process of talks about talks, on Iranian terms, while making no commitments of its own while continuing with its enrichment programme.”

The document described the Iranian response as “verbose and complicated, and ambiguous in many places".

Iran said “it is prepared to discuss … suspension in the course of negotiations but not before,” it said.

In addition, the document said Iran was demanding the “termination” of Security Council involvement in the Iran nuclear file, and suggested Iran was negating the sense of new talks by essentially seeking a commitment not to push for a long-term enrichment moratorium.

Iran’s nuclear defiance also is the thrust of talks Thursday in the German capital by US under-secretary of state Nicholas Burns and counterparts from the other five powers behind the June offer, with the officials focused on remaining unified on next steps to take.

In Denmark, meanwhile, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said he expects to hold nuclear talks with Iran “in the coming days".

Solana did not give any details on the time or place of the meeting.

The talks are considered a final attempt to see if there is common ground to start negotiations between Iran and the six nations most active in trying to persuade Tehran to limit its nuclear programme.

Iran’s unyielding stance appears to be based on the calculation that sanctions will be opposed by Russia and China, both veto-wielding Security Council members that have major commercial ties with Tehran.

Yesterday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said any sanctions must exclude military force, suggesting that Moscow was contemplating the possibility of sanctions but remained opposed to harsh and quick punishment.

Lavrov said the Security Council’s recent resolution on the issue holds out the possibility of further measures on Iran such as economic penalties, banning air travel or breaking diplomatic relations, but not the use of armed force.

“This article envisages measures to exert influence on a country that is not co-operating, including economic ones, but it is written unambiguously there that this excludes any kind of forceful measures of influence,” ITAR-Tass quoted him as saying.

US and European diplomats have said they are focusing at first on low-level punishment such as travel bans on Iranian officials or a ban on the sale of dual-use technology, to win backing from Russia and China.

More extreme sanctions would be a freeze on Iranian assets or a broader trade ban, but those would likely be opposed by Russia, China and perhaps others, particularly since the trade ban could cut off badly-needed oil exports from Iran.

Iran insists it has a right to enrich for generation of nuclear power.

However, suspicions are growing it wants to develop the technology to enrich uranium to the weapons-grade level for the fissile core of nuclear warheads.