Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani (right) with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana in Berlin
Photo: AP
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Javier Solana Will Meet with Ali Larijani Today
European Union High Representative Javier Solana will hold negotiations with Secretary of the Iranian Security Council Ali Larijani today in Madrid. They will discuss the Iranian nuclear program. This is practically the last attempt to convince Iran to stop enriching uranium before sanctions against it are tightened. The two diplomats met last in Ankara at the end of April. Since that time, the 60-day time limit provided for by UN Security Council Resolution No. 1747 of March 24 has expired. In the meantime, the IAEA stated that Iran has not only the resolution, but has expanded its uranium enrichment efforts.
Under the Security Council resolution, Iran can already be punished for its intransigency. Nonetheless, the “six” – the five permanent members of the council and Germany, decided to hold a final meeting. Solana headed for the meeting telling the Japanese Nikkei newspaper that the EU was prepared to help Iran with peaceful atomic energy in return for its cooperation. Larijani told journalists at Mehrabad Airport in Tehran as he prepared to depart that Iran would not be cooperative, saying that there would be no stopping, no moratorium and no preliminary conditions for negotiations.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, on her way to a meeting of the G8 foreign ministers in Potsdam, said that Solana's report on the negotiations will determine the next step in relation to Iran. The U.S. could impose sanctions of its own, she added. The Iran crisis was one of the main topics of the meeting in Potsdam. According to Kommersant sources, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov urged at the meeting that Iran's right to limited scientific development and testing of uranium enrichment be allowed Iran and that sanction not be imposed “in a hurry.”
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of May 31, 2007
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