German Chancellor Urges Iran To Resume Nuclear Talks

Dow Jones Newswires:

Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder expressed concern Tuesday over Iran's decision to resume its nuclear activities, urging Tehran to return to negotiations. "I hope the Iranians understand they need to return to negotiations," Schroeder said. The chancellor said he hoped it is clear that the Europeans are prepared to offer extensive economic incentives, which he hopes will succeed in "de-escalating this dangerous situation." READ MORE

Monday, Iran agreed to a two-day delay in reopening its Isfahan nuclear processing plant, after earlier vowing to restart nuclear processing.

European Union negotiators have urged Iran not to take unilateral action, saying they are only days from delivering a package of incentives addressing security and political, economic and nuclear issues.

An official at the U.K. Foreign Office said: "They should not take any precipitous action until they have seen our proposals." The official requested anonymity because he is a civil servant.

French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said earlier Tuesday that Iran should go before the U.N. Security Council if it follows through on its promise to resume uranium processing.

"It will be submitted to the Security Council if Iran does not comply," Villepin told Europe-1 radio. "Iran must hold to the commitments it has made."

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said that European negotiators planned to urgently propose an extraordinary meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's council of governors.

In the meeting, the EU-3 countries - the U.K., France and Germany - would ask the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog "to specify very strongly and very firmly to the Iranians the need to return to the negotiating table" or risk facing sanctions, Douste-Blazy told reporters after the government's weekly Cabinet meeting.

"This Iranian affair is very serious," Douste-Blazy said. "It could be the beginning of a major international crisis."

He did not indicate when a meeting would be called, and Foreign Ministry spokesman Cecile Pozzo di Borgo later said an emergency session would take place only if the IAEA concluded that Iran had committed a "material violation" of its past accord.

A European diplomat said Tuesday that no action would be taken by the E.U.-3 countries unless the Iranians breached the Paris agreement that required the nuclear program to remain frozen until negotiations were finished.

"We have got a proposal so let's calm down until it comes," the diplomat said. "Our red line is clear. We are requesting Iran not to undertake fuel cycle activity."