Posted on 01/16/2006 7:02:12 AM PST by West Coast Conservative
The United States, EU, Russia and China met Monday to discuss Iran's nuclear program, with Washington and the European Union pushing to bring the Islamic state before the U.N. Security Council.
Iran's decision to restart its nuclear program alarmed the West, which fears the regime intends to build an atomic bomb. Iran, which insists it only wants to produce electricity, has threatened to end cooperation the U.N. nuclear watchdog if it is brought before the Security Council.
On Monday, Iran's state-run radio reported that the country has allocated the equivalent of $215 million for the construction of what would be its second and third nuclear power plants.
Iran's first reactor has been built at Bushehr with Russian assistance. Iran plans to build 20 more nuclear plants, and Russia has offered to build some of them.
Speaking before Monday's talks in London, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the "onus is on Iran" to prove its program is peaceful. He said the international community's confidence had been "sorely undermined by a history of concealment and deception" by Iran.
Britain, France and Germany said last week they want Iran referred to the Security Council, declaring more than two years of tense negotiations at a "dead end."
But they need the support of Russia and China, which have close commercial ties with Iran and have resisted such a measure in the past. Straw said talks with the two countries_ which have veto power on the Security Council was of "crucial importance."
Monday's talks aim to build consensus on what action to take ahead of an emergency board meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, expected in February.
The agency has found Iran in violation of an international treaty intended to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons technology. But it has not yet voted on whether to refer Iran to the Security Council, where it could face possible sanctions.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the vote "ought to be as soon as possible."
"We've got to finally demonstrate to Iran that it can't with impunity just cast aside the just demands of the international community," Rice said Sunday during a trip to Africa.
With the backing of Russia and China uncertain, European diplomats have been unwilling to talk publicly about what sanctions could be imposed on Iran.
China, which is highly dependent on Iran for oil, has warned that referral to the Security Council would escalate the confrontation. But European diplomats say there are signs that Russia, which is deeply involved in building Iranian reactors for power generation, is leaning toward backing the move.
Economic sanctions targeting oil and gas exports are thought unlikely. Iran is OPEC's second-largest producer and preventing it from doing business could disrupt the world's energy markets.
China's Foreign Ministry struck a cautious tone Monday, saying "all relevant sides should remained restrained and stick to resolving the Iranian nuclear issue through negotiations."
Straw again ruled out military action against Iran. "I have ruled it out enough times in the past. Military action is not on the agenda and it is certainly not on the agenda at this meeting," he said.
Monday's talks aim to build consensus on what action to take ahead of an emergency board meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency, expected in early February.
U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak will also attend, joined by senior British, French and German diplomats.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran, an Iranian opposition group, called a rally outside Britain's Foreign Office to demand Tehran's referral to the council.
U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak were attending the talks, joined by senior British, French and German diplomats. The director of China's Arms Control Department will represent Beijing, China's Foreign Ministry said. Straw will not attend.
This will not end well.
No mention of Hezbollah. That is a mistake.
It's on the "What we do before bombing checklist", because we're the good guys...we'll let the EU and the UN play their little game, then declare diplomacy has failed...which it will...and then use the military option against Iran.
What he actually means is, "please please please stop us and veto something, because we certainly don't want to actually do anything or we would not have just talked for so long. But the Iranians are making utter fools of us, and unless somebody more respectable steps up and appears to shut us down, the whole world will know what pussies we are."
Sorry Jack, the whole world already knows what pussies you are.
Russia? China? Hmmmm. And I thought they were encouraging Iran. Now let's be sure and tell them everything so they can go back to Iran and inform them of what everybody's up to...
Wow!Almost right out of Ezekial's playbook.
Here, I am concerned that Bush's concern over the reflexive condemnation of military action, particularly if it involves Iranian civilian deaths, by the MSM may tie his hands and affect how he deals with the Iranian mullahs' nuke program.
"The first thing we can do about it is to get our own affairs in order."
There ya go. If the U.S. is amuck, helping anybody else will only lead to more confusion. This is such a BASIC, BASIC, BASIC, BASIC principle. Get it together here, first!
Wouldn't it make sense for Russia and China to sell Iran all this technology and tell us where it is? Then after they get paid, we bomb it.
Wash, Rinse and repeat as necessary.
It sounds like a carbon copy, with the nation to the north (Putin's Russia) assisting the 'Persians" with the means to trigger global war. Plus Russia is arming Syria, and some news reports indicate Putin's "advisors" were even "advising" the Hamas death cultists in Gaza.
I'd say the countdown is well under way. Israel will not allow the madman in Tehran to finish the Holocaust.
Yes, it would. But the question is, can they be trusted?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.