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11 March 2005

Iran Incentives Are U.S. Expression of Support For Europeans

Measures give "chips" for EU-3 to deal to Iran, says official

By Kurt Pyle
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington –- The Bush administration’s decision not to oppose Iran’s application to join the World Trade Organization and to allow the transfer of spare aircraft parts are designed to further European negotiations with Iran to convince it to permanently give up its nuclear enrichment and reprocessing activities, according to a senior Bush administration official.

Speaking to reporters in a background briefing March 11, the official described the measures as “chips” that the United Kingdom, France and Germany, collectively known as the EU-3, could play to the Iranians.

“It’s very much in the framework of the President’s policy of supporting the Europeans in their negotiations with Iran,” the official said.

The official said President Bush made the decision after being assured on his February 21-24 trip that the EU-3 share the U.S. desire to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, as well as a strategic agenda opposing Iran’s support of terrorism and its efforts to block Middle East peace efforts, and supportive of  increased human rights in Iran.

Media reports said the EU-3 nations announced March 11 that if Iran resumes uranium enrichment or breaches nuclear commitments, they would support referring Iran to the U.N. Security Council, an important precondition of administration support of the talks.

The official indicated that removing objections to these actions did not constitute an increased American presence in the talks themselves.  “This is not us becoming party to the negotiations.  It is not us dealing directly with the Iranians,” he said.

The world has “enormous grounds for suspicion” of Iran’s nuclear program, the official said, and indicated that Iran’s record of deception to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) necessitated a “permanent guarantee” that Iran would not enrich or reprocess nuclear material.

So long as the current suspension on enrichment and reprocessing remains in place and Iran meets its IAEA obligations, the talks will go forward, the official noted.  He explained, “[t]he next move is really on the Iranians to indicate whether they are prepared to move to a permanent cessation rather than just a temporary suspension.”

The official said there was no timetable for talks, but he said the quarterly meeting of the IAEA board of governors in June will provide an opportunity to reassess Iran’s compliance to its obligations.

He stated that any failure to maintain the current suspension or meet IAEA requirements would allow the EU-3 and the United States to raise the issue with the U.N. Security Council, where he said there was a “pretty good nucleus with which to work.”

The senior official also made clear that this announcement would not involve the direct sale of U.S. aircraft parts to Iran and was designed to respect the current U.S. sanctions in place regarding Iran.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

This page printed from: http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2005&m=March&x=20050311183555xkelyp0.0478937&t=livefeeds/wf-latest.html