Straw rules out military action against Iran
Foreign secretary Jack Straw has ruled out military action against Iran.
Tehran faces the prospect of being referred to the United Nations’ Security Council if it fails to shelve its uranium enrichment programme at its Isfahan plant.
Critics claim Tehran is secretly developing nuclear weapons.
Mr Straw said he preferred to resolve the apparent nuclear brinkmanship by diplomatic means.
After wide-ranging talks with the EU’s 25 foreign ministers in Newport, south Wales, Mr Straw told journalists: “Nobody is proposing military action in regard of Iran.”
“This is an issue that needs to be resolved, and can only be resolved, by diplomatic means.”
“We want to see these talks resumed because we not only believe this is in the interests of the international community but also in the interests of Iran.”
Britain, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency, France and Germany – Europe’s so-called Big Three – have led diplomatic talks with Iran to secure a non-military resolution to the matter since late last year.
In a quid pro quo with Iran, the EU offered expertise and technology in exchange for an end to urnaium enrichment.
The US is thought to be increasingly irked by the Islamic republic’s apparent desire to acquire nuclear weapons.
Iran says its nuclear programme is for the peaceful production of domestic electricity.
Meanwhile, a report Iran by the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, confirmed Iran has failed to suspend nuclear fuel work.
Author of the report, IAEA chief Mohamed el-Baradei, said Iran’s full transparency was “indispensable and overdue”.
He also said about four tons of yellowcake – uranium ore – had been fed into the conversion process at Isfahan.
The findings may prompt some to call for UN Security Council sanctions.
European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said the EU was willing to go to the Security Council for possible sanctions.
Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the EU’s external affairs commissioner, said: “We may have some very difficult decisions to make. Nobody wants to go to the Security Council, but it might become unavoidable if they don’t co-operate. Nothing can be ruled out.”
The IAEA’s board of governors meets in Vienna on September 19th to discuss the matter.
A resolution asking for sanctions could be sent ahead of the talks.
