The Hindu : Iran agrees to key demands on nuclear issue

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 22, 2003

International

International

Iran agrees to key demands on nuclear issue

By Atul Aneja

MANAMA OCT. 21. The visiting Foreign Ministers of Britain, France and Germany today made significant headway in defusing tensions driven by Iran's suspected bid to build nuclear weapons. Iran had declared on Sunday that it had invited the three Foreign Ministers for talks in Teheran, but the high-profile visit appears to have resulted from prolonged behind-the-scenes diplomacy involving Iran and the three European countries.

"We have had such communication for months. During (today's) meeting, we jointly voiced our concerns," said the French Foreign Minister, Dominique de Villepin, after talks with the Iranian counterpart, Kamal Kharrazi, today. The envoys, including Jack Straw of Britain and Joschka Fischer of Germany, also called on the Iranian President, Mohammad Khatami, and the head of the Iranian National Security Council, Hassan Rowhani.

At a joint press conference, Mr. Rowhani said Iran was determined to take necessary measures for joining the Additional Protocol to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). By signing the same — a key western demand, Iran would lay the legal basis for the inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency to probe unannounced, any of its sites suspected of being involved in the manufacture of atomic weapons.

Mr. De Villepin said Iran had agreed to sign the additional protocol to NPT, fully cooperate with the IAEA and suspend uranium enrichment process. Diplomatic sources said that apart from urging Iran to show complete transparency about the entire range of its nuclear energy programme, the visiting European trio was seeking an Iranian commitment to halt its uranium enrichment programme. While enriched uranium is used as fuel for generating electricity, highly enriched uranium can be used for making bombs. Analysts point out that it was likely that Iran's commitment to curb its indigenous production of enriched uranium would be offset by a pledge by the European countries to supply it with alternative power- generating atomic fuel.

Iran has been keen to engage key European countries in a constructive dialogue to offset mounting U.S. pressure on it. Washington has made it clear that it wants to see Iran's entire nuclear programme scrapped.

Iran hopes that major European countries will counter the U.S. move after their fears that it possesses atomic weapons have been allayed.

In return for its cooperation, Iran is optimistic that the European Union would support its civil nuclear energy programme. The visit of the European envoys has been preceded by a detailed round of talks between the IAEA chief, Mohammad ElBaradei, and the Iranian authorities which concluded earlier this week.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hamid-Reza Asefi, said on Monday that most of Iran's concerns, including apprehensions that its national security might be compromised on account of the nuclear probing that the IAEA may subsequently do, had been eliminated during talks with Mr. ElBaradei.

Mr. Asefi said that Mr. ElBaradei had given Teheran an assurance that "confidential files related to the national security of Iran, will remain top confidential".

The tri-nation European initiative had acquired certain urgency as the IAEA has set an October 31 deadline for Teheran to prove that it is not building atomic weapons. Otherwise the IAEA could forward Iran's case to the U.N. Security Council, which could impose international sanctions on it.

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