TMCnet News
REFILING: Iran spurns U.N. call to suspend uranium enrichment+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)VIENNA, March 30_(Kyodo) _ Iran on Thursday spurned a call by the U.N. Security Council to suspend its uranium enrichment programs as its permanent members plus Germany met in Berlin and urged Tehran to do so. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki blasted a draft statement by the Security Council's president that calls on Tehran to halt uranium enrichment activities within 30 days, telling a press conference in Geneva that the council's adoption of the statement Wednesday was a mistake. Aliasghar Soltaniyeh, Iranian ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, was quoted by Reuters as saying Thursday, "We will not, definitely, suspend again the enrichment." Mottaki indicated the nuclear issue should be resolved in talks in the U.N. nuclear watchdog and Iran will not follow the U.N. statement, which was compiled by Britain and France. Meanwhile, the five permanent members of the Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- and Germany held six-nation foreign ministerial talks in Berlin following the adoption of the U.N. statement and agreed to urge Iran to accept it, participants said. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, speaking at a press conference after the talks, urged Iran to suspend the uranium enrichment activities and return to negotiations with European countries. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw made a similar call, saying the Security Council could take further action otherwise. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice praised the talks, according to the Associated Press, which quoted her as saying the meeting sends "a very strong signal to Iran that the international community is united." |