France Joins In Criticizing Iran
France accused Iran on Thursday of seeking nuclear weapons in Europe's bluntest criticism to date of Tehran's uranium enrichment plans, while Russia urged its erstwhile ally to re-impose an indefinite freeze on enrichment.
While the United States routinely accused Iran of trying to make such arms, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy's bold statement appeared to reflect mounting exasperation and a tougher stance than European negotiators had previously maintained in their efforts to persuade Iran to suspend nuclear activities.
"No civilian nuclear program can explain the Iranian nuclear program. It is a clandestine military nuclear program," Douste-Blazy said on France-2 television.
"The international community has sent a very firm message in telling the Iranians to return to reason and suspend all nuclear activity and the enrichment and conversion of uranium, but they aren't listening to us."
In other developments:
France, Britain and Germany have been negotiating with Iran on behalf of the European Union. Europe and the United States fear that Iran is using its nuclear program to build weapons, and the U.N. Security Council will consider Iran's efforts next month.
The council has the power to impose economic and political sanctions. Amid mounting tensions, Iran resumed small-scale uranium enrichment last week.
"Now it's up to the Security Council to say what it will do, what means it will use to stop, to manage, to halt this terrible crisis of nuclear proliferation caused by Iran," Douste-Blazy said.
Iranian negotiator Ali Larijani responded to those comments by saying: "We want civilian nuclear energy, we don't want to have the bomb."
"Bringing the matter to the Security Council would be seen by Tehran as an escalation," Pakistan's UN Ambassador and former President of the UN Security Council Munir Akram said in an interview with CBS News Up to the Minute Contributor Frank Ucciardo. "The adoption of the resolution of the IAEA produced a reaction which I think has moved the whole issue in the negative direction."
Russia, too, applied pressure.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow's proposal to host Iran's enrichment program was only on the table if Tehran re-imposed a moratorium on such activities at home. He spoke in advance of Monday's meeting in Moscow on the proposal, meant to allay fears Tehran might misuse the technology for weapons.
The meeting is crucial in determining whether international tensions over Iran's program diminish or balloon.
"The good news is that Iran has rescheduled meetings with Russia on its proposal to export enriched uranium to Iran and has agreed to meet with the European Parliament," said CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk from the U.N., "and the question will be if these meetings are a good faith effort by Iran or yet another stall."
Lavrov, who met with senior EU officials in Vienna on Wednesday, suggested that Russian backing of enrichment on Iranian soil was a long way off.
"When confidence in the Iranian nuclear program is re-established ... we could come back to the possible implementation of the right that Iran has to develop a nuclear energy sector full scale," Lavrov said.
Russia, a traditional ally of Iran, backed Tehran's referral to the Security Council earlier this month on condition the council take up the issue no earlier than March and based on a report being prepared by International Atomic Energy Agency head Mohamed ElBaradei on the agency's probe into Tehran's nuclear program.
"Iran's defiance after the IAEA vote and the decision to resume small-scale uranium enrichment sets Iran on a dangerous course for either crippling economic sanctions or worse," Falk added, "and the time of reckoning in March at the U.N. is fast approaching."
An Iranian official said Wednesday that Tehran would like to avoid having the Security Council take action on its nuclear program and believes Russia's proposal could provide the basis for an immediate short-term solution.
But Iran will not abandon its right to full nuclear technology, including enriching uranium, which is guaranteed under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, said the official, who is knowledgeable about the country's nuclear negotiations.