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Iran warns europe to make nuke talks works { May 22 2005 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=780024http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=780024
Iran Warns Europe to Make Nuke Talks Work
Europeans Have More to Lose Than Tehran if Nuke Complaint Goes to U.N., Iranian Official Says
By NASSER KARIMI
The Associated Press
May. 22, 2005 - Iran's foreign minister said Sunday that Europe has more to lose than Tehran if the Western countries ask the U.N. Security Council to take action on its nuclear program.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi warned that if this week's talks with France, Britain and Germany fail, Iran would act on its own.
"The Europeans will sustain more damage than us if the talks have no result and Iran's case is taken to the U.N. Security Council," Asefi told reporters.
"The case will turn into a crisis they cannot manage any longer and the Islamic Republic will act unilaterally," he warned, without elaborating.
The 25-nation European Union has threatened to take Iran to the Security Council for possible sanctions if it resumes nuclear fuel development, an early stage in preparing raw uranium that could be used either to fuel a power reactor or for a nuclear weapon. Iran suspended such activities as a good will gesture in November.
The Iranians say their nuclear program is geared merely toward generating electricity but Washington believes it is secretly developing nuclear weapons.
The Europeans want Tehran to abandon its enrichment activities in exchange for economic aid and technical support.
Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Hasan Rowhani, is scheduled to meet foreign ministers of France, Britain and Germany in Geneva on Wednesday.
This round of talks, which comes after a series of fruitless others, will show whether the two parties can cooperate in the future or whether they will reach a "dead end," Asefi said.
EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday were expected to back continued European talks.
The EU has offered Iran a free trade pact, on top of technical and other economic aid in exchange for not developing a nuclear weapons program. But the trade and aid deals were contingent on Iran agreeing to halt its nuclear program, an EU official said in Brussels on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the talks.
Asefi said his country signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to enjoy its advantages, meaning the right to develop peaceful nuclear energy.
"It seems that the other party keeps on insisting on the treaty's restrictions only when it comes to Iran," he said.
Tehran repeatedly has said it won't give up its right under the NPT to enrich uranium but is prepared to offer strong guarantees that its nuclear program won't be diverted toward nuclear weapons.
Earlier this week the Islamic Republic said it would endure U.N. economic sanctions rather than give up nuclear fuel development.
Iran suspended all uranium enrichment-related activities six months ago to build international confidence and avoid being referred to the U.N. Security Council.
Iran has vowed to resume uranium reprocessing activities at its Isfahan Uranium Conversion Facility in central Iran but has agreed to give Europeans a "last chance" for a possible breakthrough in negotiations. Asefi reiterated that the decision to restart work at that facility is not reversible.
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