EU: Iran must stick by uranium limitation deal

European leaders today pressed Iran to stick by a deal that would limit its uranium enrichment, voicing “grave concern” over the country’s nuclear programme.

Western diplomats said this week that Tehran had rejected a plan proposed by International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei at talks involving Iran, the US, Russia and France.

The plan calls for Iran to export most of its enriched uranium to Russia and then France. Iran missed an initial deadline of last Friday to respond, and instead this week offered to enrich its uranium to a higher level inside the country under UN supervision.

EU leaders expressed “grave concern over the development of Iran’s nuclear program, and Iran’s persistent failure to meet its international obligations,” according to a draft statement circulating on the second day of a two-day EU summit in Brussels.

The statement urged Iran to agree to the UN atomic watchdog’s proposal for supplying nuclear fuel to Tehran’s research reactor, saying such an agreement “would contribute to building confidence.”

The Iranians’ counteroffer drew criticism in Europe and Israel.

“It’s the same old tricks,” Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, whose country holds told the European Union’s rotating presidency, told the AP. “A back-and-forth for further talks.”

Israeli Lawmaker Tzahi Hanegbi, chairman of parliament’s foreign affairs and defence committee, speaking to Army Radio on Friday, said reports of Iran’s resistance to the deal means, “We’re back where we started.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking ahead of a meeting with White House envoy George Mitchell today, said the UN nuclear agency’s uranium proposal was “a positive step” toward keeping Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

The United States and its allies believe Iran is seeking nuclear arms. Tehran says its uranium activities are aimed only at producing atomic energy.

In Paris, French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero urged Iran to “give a formal and positive response to the (IAEA), without delay”.

He said the agreement reached in Geneva “would respond to Iran’s need for the production of radioisotopes for medical use and would be a useful confidence-building measure. We are in close contact with the agency as well as with our partners on what response to bring to the Iranians.”

EU leaders also said they deplored continued violations of human rights in Iran, and urged the authorities to release EU citizens and employees of European missions there.

These include a British embassy employee, Hossein Rassam.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the EU summit of leaders “clearly expressed its continuing concern about staff that have been detained in Iran and called for their prompt and unconditional release.”

A French researcher and French Embassy employee were both charged in a mass trial of those accused of fomenting unrest in post-election protests in Iran in June. Both are freed on bail, though neither can leave Iran pending a verdict.