WORLD / Middle East
Iran-EU nuclear talks progressing
(AP)
Updated: 2007-04-26 17:04
Government officials outside Turkey had told the AP ahead of the meeting
that the six powers Solana represented ultimately may be willing to allow
Iran to keep some of its uranium enrichment program intact, instead of
demanding it be completely dismantled.
That would be a major development: The United States in particular
publicly continues to insist that Iran needs to mothball all enrichment
and related activities.
Still, the Ankara meetings are only preliminary discussions meant to
establish if there is enough common ground for further talks between the
two men that could lead to the resumption of formal nuclear negotiations
between the six powers and Iran.
Iran's defiance of a UN Security Council demands on enrichment has led to
two sets of sanctions against the country.
Iran argues the sanctions are illegal, noting it has the right to enrich
uranium to generate nuclear power under the Nuclear Nonproliferation
Treaty. Iranian officials say nuclear power is the only purpose of their
program, dismissing suspicions that they ultimately want weapons-grade
uranium for the fissile core of nuclear warheads.
But the United States and others say past suspicious nuclear activities,
including a program Iran kept secret for nearly two decades, set the
country apart from others that have endorsed the treaty.
Negotiations broke down last year when the Iranian government refused to
suspend enrichment in exchange for a package of economic and political
inducements, including help in developing a peaceful nuclear program.
Solana was expected to brief Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice next
week, when he attends an EU-US summit in Washington, as well as the
foreign ministers of the other five major powers. They, in turn were
likely to set ground rules for the next meeting between the two.
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