Iran May Face Sanctions But Not Military Action

Telegraph:

Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, has said that Iran may face UN sanctions over its resumption of nuclear activities, but insisted that military action was not being considered. Mr Straw called on the international community to take a "sensible, patient" approach to ending the nuclear stand-off, and advised using pressure before imposing sanctions.

Asked if there should be sanctions, Mr Straw told BBC Radio: "That will be on the table but there are prior stages here. READ MORE

"Our approach is firm but it has also got to be a sensible patient approach which ensures that there is a continuation of the very substantial international consensus which we have built up."

Mr Straw said military action was "not on the agenda" - either in Britain or America.

"This can only be resolved by peaceful means; nobody is talking about invading Iran or taking military action," he said.

"To quote the White House 'Iran is not Iraq'."

The Foreign Secretary yesterday conceded that talks over Iran's nuclear programme had hit a dead end and called for Teheran to be referred to the UN Security Council.

Iran claims its uranium enrichment programme is needed to produce electricity but other countries fear it plans to build nuclear weapons.