From Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
Despite intense lobbying, Iran’s government will in all likelihood face another disappointment when European Union foreign ministers meet in Luxembourg next Monday. Officials say the ministers are likely to defer discussions on whether to relaunch trade talks with Iran. The negotiations were suspended a year ago in the wake of allegations of clandestine nuclear activity in the country. ....
Sources in Brussels say EU ministers want to wait until after the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) next board of governors meeting, which takes place from 14-18 June in Vienna. .... EU officials say the recent parliamentary elections in Iran -- in which scores of reformists were not allowed to run -- seriously damaged goodwill toward the country.
Meanwhile, however, the EU has sanctioned another meeting within the framework of the low-level human rights dialogue being conducted with Iran. .... EU officials say the recent parliamentary elections in Iran -- in which scores of reformists were not allowed to run -- seriously damaged goodwill toward the country. One official said yesterday that, before the elections, the European Commission had supported setting a date for the resumption of trade talks, to reward Tehran for signing up to an IAEA nuclear-inspections protocol. Now, the official said, "no one is in a hurry." He said the elections "changed the atmospherics of the talks" .... EU representatives will go to Tehran next week in the hope that they can make a difference by discussing human rights issues face-to-face with Iranian officials and representatives of civil society. |