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International unity on Iran springs new leaks
BERLIN -- Six world powers came to Berlin seeking unity in their bid to contain Iran's nuclear ambitions. But by the time they left, their common front had sprung new leaks, leaving a delicate diplomatic road ahead.The meeting on Thursday of ministers from the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China had been aimed at keeping up pressure on Tehran after a milestone statement by the UN Security Council. Yet more than three hours of talks ended with Washington and its European allies still struggling to convince Russia and China to crack down on Iran for its suspected efforts to build a nuclear bomb. The Western countries were upbeat about the talks a day after the Security Council capped weeks of haggling and adopted a non-binding statement urging Iran to halt all uranium-enrichment activities. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that the meeting sent "a very strong signal" on international unity. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said that Tehran had "miscalculated" in counting on divided world opinion. But at a post-meeting news conference, the Russians and Chinese were conspicuous in singing a different tune on Iran, which maintains its nuclear program is for strictly peaceful purposes. Both went out of their way to insist on a peaceful solution to the row, in contrast to the Americans who will not take any option off the table and have occasionally hinted at possible military action. "The Chinese side feels that there has already been enough turmoil in the Middle East," said Chinese deputy foreign minister Dai Bingguo. "We do not want to see new turmoil being introduced to the region." While the United States pushed to at least brandish the threat of sanctions against Iran if it keeps up its sensitive work on uranium enrichment, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov took a different view. "Russia doesn't believe that sanctions could achieve the purposes of settlement of various issues," he said. "We believe that there must be a balanced approach of the international community." A wide gap appeared even in the perception of the threat posed by Iran. The Americans branded Tehran the world's "central banker" for terrorism and an undemocratic, destabilizing element in the Middle East on top of a potential nuclear menace. But the Russians were buying little of it. "Before we call any situation a threat, we need facts, especially in a region like the Middle East where so many things are happening," Lavrov told reporters. He said that it was up to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which referred Iran to the UN Security Council, to provide facts on the alleged Iranian threat and "so far they have not been provided". Reluctance by Russia and China clouded chances for further action by the Security Council where they hold a veto along with the other three permanent members, the United States, France and Britain. The statement adopted by the 15-member council on Wednesday essentially gives Iran 30 days to comply with demands that it halt its controversial nuclear activities but does not say what would happen if it did not. A senior US State Department official, who asked not to be named, said that the "next logical step" would be a resolution under chapter seven of the UN charter that could pave the way for sanctions. The official said that Rice and some other ministers on Thursday urged such a course. But he added, "I am not saying that there is unanimity about this. There was not an agreement among all the parties." But the Americans could take comfort that they had made significant process over the last year in whipping up international support to challenge Iran's nuclear activities. A year ago the United States was struggling to get the Security Council involved and now it is. At that time the Europeans were balking at US calls for possible sanctions and pressing negotiations; now they are on the same page. If the Russians and Chinese were trying to put brakes on the process, their vote for Wednesday's statement and presence at Thursday's meeting were welcome signs for the US administration. "We're pleased where we are right now," said the State Department official. Posted by: 3dc 2006-04-01 |
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