Disappointed European leaders seem to be torn between pursuing efforts to engage Iran and calls for a harder line over Tehran's nuclear aims, to bring them closer to the US stance.
EU foreign ministers, gathered for back-to-work talks in the Netherlands this weekend, did little to disguise their deep concern over Iran, which Washington wants hauled before the UN Security Council.
"We agreed upon the need to send out a strong signal to Iran to cooperate with the IAEA," said Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot, whose country holds the EU presidency, referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
"We cannot accept of course the development of weapon-grade uranium," he said.
"That signal should be very strong and should be unanimously given by the 25" EU member states.
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, who along with his British and French counterparts has spearheaded Europe's attempts to diplomatically engage Tehran, also turned up the pressure.
A nuclear-capable Iran "can become a subject for the [UN] Security Council, he said, referring to the IAEA board of governors meeting from Sept. 13 which will discuss a new report on Tehran's atomic aims.
Washington, which has dubbed Iran part of an "axis of evil" along with Iraq and North Korea, plans to call at the IAEA meeting for the issue to be referred to the UN Security Council, in a move bringing sanctions a step closer.
Europe seems to in a quandary over how to proceed.
"It is difficult to manage the situation," said one diplomat.
"Either we stick with the current way which risks not impressing the Iranians, or we go straight to the Security Council and they risk doing God knows what because they will feel betrayed by those who held up a solution for them."
The fear is that Iranian conservatives, who have maintained a hardline on the nuclear issue since winning February legislative elections, would use a standoff at the UN Security Council to raise the stakes even further.
"The risk is clear. We have to take account of the domestic balance of power in Tehran," said another diplomat.
"We must find as unanimous a position as possible," he added.
But he cast doubt on whether the EU can come such a joint position in the next week -- coincidentally the IAEA board of governors meeting is on the same day at the next formal meeting of EU foreign ministers.
The Europeans' disappointment with Tehran is all the more bitter because they have for years refused to bow to American pressure to cut ties with the Iranian government.
"We have given them every opportunity to continue with dialogue, in particular on the enrichment program," Bot said.
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including
UNREST: The authorities in Turkey arrested 13 Turkish journalists in five days, deported a BBC correspondent and on Thursday arrested a reporter from Sweden Waving flags and chanting slogans, many hundreds of thousands of anti-government demonstrators on Saturday rallied in Istanbul, Turkey, in defence of democracy after the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu which sparked Turkey’s worst street unrest in more than a decade. Under a cloudless blue sky, vast crowds gathered in Maltepe on the Asian side of Turkey’s biggest city on the eve of the Eid al-Fitr celebration which started yesterday, marking the end of Ramadan. Ozgur Ozel, chairman of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which organized the rally, said there were 2.2 million people in the crowd, but
RSS