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Schuessel seeks EU-Japan efforts to 'integrate Iran' over nuke row+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)TOKYO, April 25_(Kyodo) _ (EDS: ONE PHOTO ACCOMPANYING THIS STORY IS AVAILABLE VIA E-MAIL.) Austrian Chancellor and European Union President Wolfgang Schuessel has lashed out at Iran for rejecting global efforts to resolve the crisis over its nuclear program, and called for closer coordination with Japan and other major countries to "integrate Iran" into U.N. talks to break the impasse. Schuessel said the world's major powers should now concentrate on finding a diplomatic solution to the standoff, rather than eyeing sanctions, as sought by the United States, because such a move could increase tensions in the Middle East and further destabilize global oil markets. "They (Iranian leaders) are absolutely stubborn, and not even willing to be involved in political dialogue," he said on the sidelines of a Japan-EU summit Monday in Tokyo. "The important thing is this is the beginning of a phase where more countries that have already acquired nuclear technology are on the doorstep to become nuclear powers." During the one-day summit, Schuessel -- whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency -- and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi voiced "deep concern" over Tehran's uranium enrichment activities and agreed to keep pushing Iran to achieve a diplomatic solution. "Everybody from America to China, Russia to Japan, from Europe to Africa or Asia, everybody wants Iran to stop uranium enrichment," Schuessel said in a group interview in Tokyo, alluding to a demand by the U.N. Security Council via the International Atomic Energy Agency that Tehran suspend its uranium enrichment activities by Friday. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared April 11 that Iran has successfully enriched uranium. Iran insists its nuclear activities are for peaceful purposes but many countries suspect it may be attempting to build nuclear weapons. Schuessel said he believes Iran has "no alternative" but to take part in negotiations under the Vienna-based IAEA, adding, "This is what we want, what Japan wants. This is also the same way that Russian and Chinese leaders and Americans are doing." Asked about possible sanctions against Iran, which the United States favors but China and Russia oppose, Schuessel said, "I think it's now a bit too early...we are not talking about consequences." "It would not be helpful if we spare our energy for not peaceful talks, but for a lot of options, which would probably increase tensions among members in the international community," he said. Tokyo is reluctant to slap economic and other types of sanctions against Tehran because it does not want to lose its third-largest crude supplier, along with its rights to develop the Azadegan oil field in the Islamic republic, one of the world's largest untapped oilfields. "We share the recognition that it is a difficult problem," Koizumi told reporters after the summit, also attended by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana. As a practical step, Schuessel said he supports IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei's scheme to set up an IAEA-managed reserve fuel bank, which would allow every country in compliance with its nonproliferation commitments to be assured of getting the fuel needed for its peaceful nuclear activities. "This is a good way. This can be done wherever," Schuessel said. "The sooner Iran and other countries would agree on such a strategy, that's better for the world." |