Nations fail to agree Iran nuclear sanctions plan
FRANCE: Six world powers failed on Tuesday to agree a draft U.N.
resolution to slap sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme, and
after months of haggling France said several key differences remain
between the West and Russia.
With agreement still proving elusive at talks between senior
officials in Paris, France, Britain and Germany felt the time had come
to move their negotiations back to the United Nations in New York in a
last push to broker a deal.
"We made substantive progress on the scope of the sanctions,
targeting proliferation-sensitive activities. There remain several
outstanding issues, on which we will reflect over the coming days,"
France's foreign ministry said in a statement.
In the talks, France, Germany and Britain told Russia they want a
U.N. resolution on sanctions to be passed by the end of the year, an EU
diplomat said.
After forcing the Europeans to water down their sanctions plans over
the past weeks and spurning tough measures against Iran, the Russians
indicated a compromise might be possible, prompting Tuesday's hastily
arranged talks.
Yet the Europeans, the United States, Russia and China remained
divided over the proposed bans on exports of sensitive materials, an
assets freeze and travel ban on individuals and groups involved in
Iran's nuclear programme.
The sanctions would be a first phase of punishment against Iran for
its failure to comply with an Aug. 31 U.N. deadline to suspend uranium
enrichment, which can produce fuel for nuclear power plants or bombs.
Iran denies Western charges that its nuclear programme is a cover for
an atomic weapons programme but was ordered by the Security Council to
freeze enrichment for failing to convince the world that its nuclear
programme is entirely peaceful.
PARIS, Wednesday, Reuters
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