Germany to Iran: Stop enrichment and we can talk

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany made clear to Iran on Saturday it must halt uranium enrichment if it wants to negotiate with six world powers on an offer of incentives aimed at resolving the nuclear standoff with the Islamic republic.

Iran said that any talks must be "without pre-conditions," suggesting little movement in the two sides' positions.
"I can only reiterate and urge Iran to implement very quickly a suspension of enrichment to enable negotiations to begin again," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said after meeting his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki. Mottaki, however, appeared to reject any demand that Iran temporarily stop enrichment -- a process of purifying uranium for use in nuclear power plants or weapons. "We welcome negotiations without pre-conditions," he said.

Germany and other Western countries suspect that Iran is trying to develop atomic weapons. Tehran says it only wants to harness nuclear technology for peaceful ends. The six sponsors of the offer of economic and political benefits are Germany along with U.N. Security Council permanent members France, Britain, the United States, Russia and China. In exchange for an enrichment suspension, the Security Council powers have agreed to halt work on a resolution that would open the door to political and economic sanctions.

Mottaki described his talks with Steinmeier as constructive but reiterated that the incentives offer had some ambiguities. "The packaged offer by the six countries is being very seriously examined by Iran. We see very positive points in this offer. There are also naturally unclear points and we will have questions," he said.

1 posted on 06/25/2006 1:37:01 AM PDT by Michael81Dus

Actually, the Germans should feel flattered. The Iranians aparently learned a lot from them.

2 posted on 06/25/2006 1:53:57 AM PDT by WestVirginiaRebel (Common sense will do to liberalism what the atomic bomb did to Nagasaki-Rush Limbaugh)

And, like the Germans, Iran hasn't learned the right lessons.

3 posted on 06/25/2006 3:05:04 AM PDT by Thumper1960 (Politicians are like diapers. They need changed often, and for the same reasons.)

Iran said that any talks must be "without pre-conditions," suggesting little movement in the two sides' positions.

Unnngh.. that sounds familiar, replace 'Iran' with 'IRA', and there you have it!

4 posted on 06/25/2006 4:02:50 AM PDT by Irish_Thatcherite (A vote for Bertie Ahern is a vote for Gerry Adams!| IRA supporters on FR are trolls, end of story!)

Halt, or I'll yell halt again!

5 posted on 06/25/2006 5:29:38 AM PDT by strange1 ("Show the enemy harm so he shall not advance" Sun Tzu The Art of War)

Germany to Iran: Stop enrichment and we can talk

U.S. to Iran: Stop enrichment and we'll allow you to breath (a little while longer)

6 posted on 06/25/2006 5:17:56 PM PDT by mountn man (Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional.)

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