EU aims to avert Iran nuclear crisis-diplomats
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-05-21 09:43

The EU's three biggest powers, eager to avert an international crisis, hope to persuade Iran next week not to resume sensitive nuclear work that could be used to make atom bombs, diplomats said on Friday.

Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Hassan Rohani speaks to Reuters correspondent during an interview in Tehran May 18, 2005. [Reuters]

The European Union wants Iran to keep its uranium enrichment program frozen at least until its June 17 presidential election, after which it would hope to resume negotiations with Tehran, EU diplomats said.

But the diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the task will not be easy when the foreign ministers of France, Britain and Germany meet Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Hassan Rohani, in Europe next week.

"The question is: what will the Europeans offer the Iranians to keep them at the negotiating table? The Iranians will have to bring something concrete back with them," one diplomat said.

Diplomats said the meeting would probably be in Geneva on Wednesday, though both the date and venue could change.

Iran strongly denies U.S. accusations it is trying to build atomic weapons, saying its facilities are for civilian energy. It agreed to suspend enrichment activities in November as a trust-building measure following talks with the EU three.

But an exiled dissident on Friday accused Iran of smuggling in a material to use in weapons, including nuclear arms.

Alireza Jafarzadeh, who has reported accurately in the past on Iran's hidden nuclear facilities and activities, said the substance was a graphite compound, "ceramic matrix composite."

"Iran is smuggling it into the country for its nuclear weapons program," he told Reuters, saying his information came from "well-placed sources inside Iran."

Iranian officials were not immediately available to comment.

RUSSIAN HELP

Keeping the suspension on enrichment in place at least until the election would ensure a positive report from the U.N. nuclear watchdog, which meets on June 13, and would undermine any U.S. drive to refer it to the U.N. Security Council, diplomats in Vienna said.

But the EU trio warned Rohani in a letter last week that if Tehran resumed any enrichment-related work they would back U.S. calls to refer its case to the Security Council, which could consider imposing sanctions.

The EU has demanded Iran end its entire uranium enrichment program in exchange for economic and political incentives.

Rohani has said Iran would never give up enrichment and would soon start preparing raw uranium for the process, which purifies it for use in nuclear power plants or weapons.

Iran proposed a compromise to the EU trio -- having Russia temporarily carry out the sensitive final enrichment of uranium after Iran has processed it at an Isfahan plant, diplomats said.

While the idea might not be realistic, it was the kind of thing that could be discussed for a while to keep the Iranians at the negotiating table, diplomats said.

Washington insisted Iran should stop enrichment forever, but avoided rejecting the proposal on Russia outright.

"The agreement that the Europeans have already with Iran is quite clear on suspension of all conversion and enrichment- related activities, and we would expect that to be respected," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.

Russia, which is building the Bushehr atomic reactor in Iran, has called on Tehran to give up the fuel program. It has promised fuel for Bushehr and to take spent fuel back so Iran could not extract bomb-grade plutonium from it.

Moscow supports Iran's ambitions for a nuclear energy program, but has repeatedly said developing atomic fuel processes made no economic sense for Tehran.

Iranian negotiators have rejected the few incentives offered to Iran to stop enrichment, such as access to spare aircraft parts, as being insignificant.

Senior official Hossein Mousavian said this week Tehran wanted something substantial -- like a promise from the EU three to supply 10 full-scale atomic power reactors.

But with U.S. sanctions in place, no European firm would jeopardizing U.S. business by building a reactor in Iran, EU diplomats said.

"The EU can't force its companies to do anything," said one EU three diplomat. "Our companies are not front companies for an Iranian nuclear weapons program."

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