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Iran slams talk of more sanctions as 'irresponsible'
by Staff Writers
Tehran (AFP) Sept 9, 2012

Britain urges EU to strengthen Iran sanctions
Paphos, Cyprus (AFP) Sept 7, 2012 - British Foreign Secretary William Hague urged the European Union on Friday to step up the pressure on Iran over its controversial nuclear drive by beefing up sanctions.

"It is necessary to increase the pressure on Iran, to intensify sanctions, to add further to the EU sanctions," Hague said in reference to Iran, as he joined his 26 EU colleagues for two days of informal talks in Cyprus also expected to focus on the conflict in Syria.

Hague said EU sanctions were having "a serious impact" on Iran.

The last such round, a damaging oil embargo, came into effect on July 1, adding to US financial sanctions aimed at shutting off Iran's oil exports, which account for half of government revenues.

Hague said it was vital that Tehran's controversial nuclear programme be "confronted and dealt with, but far better to do so in a peaceful way through sanctions but also negotiations."

Ministers will be briefed during the on the state of play of months of negotiations with Iran led by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on behalf of the major powers.

Ashton had been expected to hold a new set of talks around the end of August with lead Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, but there has been no sign of fresh negotiations despite increasing talk in Israel of the possibility of pre-emptive military action against Iranian nuclear facilities.

"I have urged Iran to look very carefully at the proposals that have been put forward," Ashton said. "I will be briefing the ministers later about what I think we should be doing next."

Britain will urge EU governments to agree a new round of sanctions -- targeting the energy sector and trade -- at the next meeting of EU foreign ministers in mid-October, a diplomatic source told AFP.

"I call on the Iranian side to take stock of the seriousness of the situation. We will not accept discussions and negotiations that serve only to gain time," said German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle.

Iran must make "substantial" proposals, give access to all its installations to international inspectors and renounce once and for all nuclear armament, he added.

Iran insists that its nuclear programme is for peaceful power generation and medical purposes only and that it has a right to uranium enrichment under the Non-Proliferation Treaty. It has called for Western sanctions on its economy to be eased.

The so-called P5+1 group which Ashton represents -- made up of the UN Security Council permanent members plus Germany -- has told Iran to immediately stop enriching uranium to 20 percent level, to ship out its existing 20 percent stocks and to shut down a fortified underground enrichment facility.

Analysts say enrichment to 20 percent is a key step towards the 90 percent level required for an atomic bomb.


Iran on Sunday hit out at talk of more EU sanctions being applied against it as "irresponsible," singling out Britain for raising the prospect it claimed went against UN nuclear watchdog regulations.

Foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast issued a statement relayed by state broadcaster IRIB calling Western sanctions "ineffective" and "obsolete."

He was reacting to comments made by EU foreign ministers, meeting in Cyprus on Saturday, who said a "growing consensus" was forming to impose new punitive measures on Iran to pressure it further to make concessions on its disputed nuclear programme.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said after the meeting that existing EU sanctions were having "a serious impact" but it was "necessary to increase the pressure on Iran, to intensify sanctions."

Britain would urge EU governments to agree a new round of sanctions -- targeting the energy sector and trade -- at the next meeting of EU foreign ministers in mid-October, a diplomatic source at the meeting told AFP.

Hague's German and French counterparts echoed that position, underlining EU frustration that talks this year between Iran and the so-called P5+1 group -- Britain, France, Germany, the United States, Russia and China -- had gone nowhere.

Mehmanparast homed in on Britain's position, saying: "The recent remarks by the British foreign secretary calling for increasing sanctions against Iran are irresponsible."

He said they "violate" International Atomic Energy Agency regulations.

He also claimed Hague's remarks sought to undermine Iran's recent hosting of a summit on non-aligned states that supported the Islamic republic's nuclear energy programme as long as it complied with IAEA oversight.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon, attending that summit, had urged Iran to abide by IAEA demands for broader inspections and six UN resolutions it has so far ignored demanding it suspend uranium enrichment.

The P5+1 harbours suspicions that Iran's nuclear activities include a push to develop an atomic weapon breakout capability.

Tensions over the issue have greatly risen in recent months, since the Iran/P5+1 negotiations effectively stalled in June.

Israel -- the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear weapons power -- has threatened to possibly launch imminent air strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities.

The United States, which has repeated it could also take military action against Iran as a last resort, is arguing with Israel that diplomacy has not yet run its course.

Iran insists its nuclear programme is exclusively peaceful and points to edicts from its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, describing nuclear weapons as a "great sin."

However, the IAEA in its latest report stressed Iran has repeatedly rebuffed its requests to be given access to a military base suspected to have carried out experiments using conventional explosive to test possible nuclear warhead designs.

It also said Iran had installed more than 1,000 new uranium enrichment centrifuges in a bomb-proof nuclear bunker in Fordo, near the holy city of Qom, though had not yet switched them on.

EU and US sanctions imposed in July have severely crimped Iran's all-important oil exports.

According to OPEC, Iran's oil production has plummeted to its lowest level in more than two decades, while the International Energy Agency says its oil exports have more than halved this year.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad admitted on Tuesday that his country had "some problems in selling oil" because of the sanctions, but he said "we are trying to manage it."

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EU heading towards new Iran sanctions
Paphos, Cyprus (AFP) Sept 7, 2012 - European Union nations are exploring a new raft of sanctions against Iran as exasperation mounts over blocked talks on the country's contested nuclear programme, several EU ministers said on Friday.

"We might have to decide soon a new round of sanctions in the European Union," German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said during informal talks in Cyprus with his 26 EU counterparts. "I see a growing consensus between my colleagues."

"We will not accept a nuclear weapon for Iran," he added.

After the foreign ministers of Britain and France stated they were calling on their colleagues to agree new sanctions as patience with Iran wore thin, Italian Foreign Minister Guido Terzi said in remarks to journalists: "I agree!"

"The door to negotiations for the EU is always open, but "it has to be matched again with increased pressure because up to now there has been no satisfactory outcome in the latest round of negotiations."

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Iran had a right to nuclear energy for civilian purposes but "we consider unacceptable, highly dangerous, the prospect of Iran possessing nuclear weapons."

He said all foreign ministers who spoke on the issue at the talks favoured fresh punitive measures against Iran and that work to agree financial, trade and oil sanctions would begin "in the coming days."

The last round of EU sanctions, a damaging oil embargo, came into effect on July 1, adding to US financial sanctions aimed at shutting off Iran's oil exports, which account for half of government revenues.

Earlier, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said that EU sanctions were having "a serious impact" and that "it is necessary to increase the pressure on Iran, to intensify sanctions, to add further to the EU sanctions."

Exploring new punitive measures comes amid growing impatience over the lack of progress in months of negotiations with Iran led by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on behalf of the major powers.

Ashton had been expected to hold a new set of talks around the end of August with lead Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, but there has been no sign of fresh talks despite increasing talk in Israel of the possibility of pre-emptive military action against Iranian nuclear facilities.

Failing diplomatic progress, new sanctions could be announced at the next meeting of EU foreign ministers in mid-October, a diplomatic source told AFP.

"I call on the Iranian side to take stock of the seriousness of the situation. We will not accept discussions and negotiations that serve only to gain time," said Westerwelle.

Iran must make "substantial" proposals, give access to all its installations to international inspectors and renounce once and for all nuclear armament, he added.

Iran insists that its nuclear programme is for peaceful power generation and medical purposes only and that it has a right to uranium enrichment under the Non-Proliferation Treaty. It has called for Western sanctions on its economy to be eased.

The so-called P5+1 group which Ashton represents -- made up of the UN Security Council permanent members plus Germany -- has told Iran to immediately stop enriching uranium to 20 percent level, to ship out its existing 20 percent stocks and to shut down a fortified underground enrichment facility.

Analysts say enrichment to 20 percent is a key step towards the 90 percent level required for an atomic bomb.



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NUKEWARS
West seeks to pressure Iran at IAEA
Vienna (AFP) Sept 8, 2012
Western countries will seek to tighten further the screw on Iran at a meeting of UN atomic agency member states from Monday following the watchdog's latest damning report on Tehran's nuclear programme. It was however unclear whether Russia and China would support a tough-talking resolution, possibly even reporting Iran to the UN Security Council, at the International Atomic Energy Agency's b ... read more


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