Iran talks in deadlock as ministers fail to agree action
>By Mark Turner In New York, Gareth Smyth in Tehran, Roula Khalaf in London and Edward Alden in Washington
>Published: May 8 2006 11:34 | Last updated: May 9 2006 08:09
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Foreign ministers from the US, Europe, Russia and China emerged from three hours of talks in New York with no agreement on a resolution forcing Iran to cease nuclear enrichment or face the consequences.
The continued deadlock came after Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, the Iranian President, wrote an 18-page letter to US President George Bush, which had touted “new solutions†to the stand-off, but which was quickly dismissed by US officials and other diplomats as rambling and off the point.
The document, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters on Tuesday, argues that globally shared religious values should govern political life but makes no proposals for resolving the west’s concerns over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. It also appears to draw analogies between the 2003 US invasion of Iraq and US threats against Iran, suggesting Washington lied to justify the war and is now suffering the consequences.
“On the pretext of the existence of WMDs (weapons of mass destruction), this great tragedy came to engulf both the peoples of the occupied and the occupying country. Later it was revealed that no WMDs existed to begin with.â€
Mr Ahmadi-Nejad’s direct approach to Mr Bush demonstrated again his capacity to surprise the world. His gambit marked the highest level direct communication between Tehran and Washington since relations were severed during the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Condoleezza Rice, US Secretary of State, referring to the letter, told the Associated Press. “Is not the place that one would find an opening to engage on the nuclear issue or anything of the sort ... It isn’t addressing the issues that we’re dealing with in a concrete way.’’
Margaret Beckett, the new British foreign secretary, said on Monday night there was “a good deal of work for officials to doâ€, as foreign ministry political directors prepared to resume negotiations on Tuesday morning.
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| "This letter is not the place that one would find an opening to engage on the nuclear issue or anything of the sort"
>Condoleezza Rice, US Secretary of State |
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While she claimed all parties agreed on the need to stop Iran getting nuclear weapons, they still needed to work out “how we can express the clear determination and the insistence that Iran should complyâ€.
China and Russia have opposed British, French and US calls for a resolution under the UN’s chapter 7, which can be used to authorise sanctions or military force. Both are concerned that language could be used as a pretext for war, and Russia has suggested ways to limit the resolution’s scope, but without success.
Ms Beckett insisted that “no-one has the intention to take military actionâ€. Philippe Douste-Blazy, the French foreign minister, nevertheless said Iran faced a clear choice: cooperation, which would be rewarded with incentives, or defiance, which would lead to deterrents.
“Iran has to bear its responsibilities and decide either that it will adopt a position of openness and then benefit of this with an ambitious program in the field of civil nuclear technology, trade, and why not security,†he said. “Or it is a closed attitude and then it will be a series of deterrent measures.â€
France, the UK and the US had been pushing for a vote this week, but Reuters reported a senior State Department official as saying: “I think the prospects for an agreement this week are not substantially good. Clearly we had a ways to go.â€
Although Iran’s defiant attitude over recent months made any concessions on the nuclear dispute appear unlikely, the announcement fuelled speculation of a US-Iranian dialogue. European officials have urged such a move as the best way to resolve the dispute over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
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Oil traders interpreted the letter as a sign of reduced risk of oil disruption. US and European crude oil futures fell, at one point slipping by nearly $2 to less than $69 a barrel.
John Negroponte, the US director of national intelligence, earlier told reporters that, while he had not seen the letter, “certainly one of the hypotheses you’d have to examine is whether, and in what way, the timing of the dispatch of that letter is connected with trying in some manner to influence the debate before the [United Nations] Security Council.â€
Gholam-Hossein Elham, the Iranian government spokesman, declined to say whether the letter offered a US-Iranian dialogue. He said Mr Ahmadi-Nejad would be sending more letters to other heads of governments.
Ali Larijani, Iran’s top security official, however, said the letter did not “mean a softening of Iran’s stance†towards Washington.
The US has been under some pressure from allies such as Germany, and from influential Republicans in Washington, including Senators Chuck Hagel and Richard Lugar, to engage in direct talks with the Iranian regime. But Mr Bush has so far ruled out such negotiations. |
