Six-nation talks on Iran set to open in Paris
Leading diplomats from six nations were to meet in Paris today to discuss how they want the UN Security Council to respond to Iran’s refusal to stop nuclear activities.
US Under-secretary of State Nicholas Burns was to take part in the talks, the first since the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed on Friday that Iran had continued to enrich uranium despite international pressure to quit.
The closed-door talks were likely to address whether the UN response would involve the threat of sanctions.
The United States and some European negotiators support a strong resolution including the possibility of sanctions, while Russia and China are seeking something softer.
The US State Department said the talks were on “the urgent need for a significant UN Security Council response to Iran’s decision to accelerate its nuclear enrichment research”.
Tomorrow, Britain, France and Germany are expected to introduce the text of a new resolution on Iran before the UN Security Council.
The resolution will seek to make mandatory the council’s demand a month ago that Iran halt uranium enrichment and take other steps to demonstrate it is not pursuing nuclear weapons.
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