Tehran defiance spells collapse of nuclear talks

Financial Times:

By Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran and Guy Dinmore in Washington

Published: August 4 2005 18:25 Last updated: August 5 2005 08:10

Nearly two years of delicate negotiations between Iran and the European Union over the Islamic republic's nuclear programme could be on the point of collapse on Friday, setting the scene for a confrontation at the UN.

Senior Iranian officials told the Financial Times that talks with France, Germany and the UK – the EU3 – would be over if their latest proposed incentives do not give approval for Tehran to resume work at a key facility at Isfahan.

Ambassadors of the EU3 formally delivered the package of proposed incentives to Tehran's foreign ministry early on Friday.

However, one senior official involved in the talks said that: "According to our information the EU proposal does not include resumption of conversion activities in Isfahan."

The official added: "This means the end of this round of talks with Europe. Iran has decided to resume activities in Isfahan and no one at home and abroad can stop it." A senior European diplomat in Tehran conceded that the "proposal is not the one Iranians want”.

Under the Paris Agreement reached with the EU3 last year, Iran suspended nuclear fuel cycle activities that western governments suspect are part of a clandestine weapons programme.

The suspension agreed in Paris included processing work at Isfahan, where raw uranium is converted into uranium hexafluoride gas, and the next stage at Natanz where the gas is enriched through centrifuges to provide nuclear fuel.

The EU3, backed by the US, have warned Iran that ending any part of the suspension would lead them to refer the issue to the UN Security Council.

The US drive for punitive action is being led by John Bolton, the new US ambassador to the UN, who failed to win confirmation by the Senate but was still appointed by President George W. Bush.

Some analysts and diplomats are sceptical the Bush administration can win enough support for serious measures to be taken against Iran.

"The American case will be represented by a non-confirmed ambassador who has been accused of distorting intelligence on proliferation issues," commented Ray Takeyh, analyst at the independent US Council on Foreign Relations.

The EU3 is seeking an extraordinary board meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna on Monday. But diplomats do not rule out further talks with Iran.

One EU3 diplomat said the European Union and the US were "on their way" to getting a majority on the IAEA board to take Iran to the Security Council, using the argument that Iran had deceived the UN watchdog for years over its nuclear programme and had been in breach of its safeguards commitments.

Iran insists that its nuclear programme is for civilian use only and that it has a right under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to develop the nuclear fuel cycle.

Senior Iranian officials said Iran was not bluffing over its threat to reactivate Isfahan as some EU3 diplomats suspect. "We are serious and also upset about Europeans' failure to deliver promises," said one Iranian.

However, the officials said Iran had not decided finally when to break IAEA seals at the facility. While members of the negotiating team want Iran to wait for inspectors from the IAEA to come and monitor, other hardline decision-makers "who now have the upper hand" want an immediate start.

They accused the IAEA of playing for time by saying it needs to send more equipment and said it was possible that Isfahan could "go on stream" this weekend, possibly with foreign reporters present.