Meeting Yields 'Good Progress' On Iran

Six world powers made "good progress" Wednesday in efforts to find common ground on how to reward Iran if it gives up uranium enrichment, or punishing it if it doesn't, a senior British official said.

"We had some constructive and valuable discussions," said John Sawer, the British Foreign Office representative at the talks, which brought together the five permanent U.N. Security Council members and Germany. "We made some good progress."

Describing the meeting as "a good day's work," Sawer acknowledged no final decision had been reached on a package of incentives and penalties meant to coax or pressure Tehran to relinquish the technology, which the United States and others fear Iran could be misuse to make nuclear weapons.

"It was encouraging but there is still further work to do," he told AP Television News as he left the residence of British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett, the venue of the talks. "There will be further consultation between the parties."

Still, his comments suggested progress on a key issue that for months has hobbled joint action by Russia, the United States, Britain, France and China, the five permanent council members, on formulating a possible U.N. Security Council resolution tough enough for Washington while also acceptable to Moscow.

Diplomats told the AP before the meeting that the six nations would discuss a compromise — one that would drop the automatic threat of military action but still pack the threat of sanctions if Iran remains defiant — as part of a proposed basket of incentives meant to wean Iran away from the enrichment process.

If accepted, the compromise would resolve wrangling within the Security Council since it became actively involved in March, two months after Iran's nuclear file was referred to it by the 35-nation board of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.'s nuclear monitoring agency.

Russia and China have opposed calls by the United States, Britain and France for a resolution that would threaten sanctions and be enforceable by military action.

The compromise proposal is meant to break that deadlock, said diplomats, who demanded anonymity in exchange for discussing the package with The Associated Press.

"The compromise package was designed to gain support for Security Council passage," said CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk, "by avoiding the two sections of the U.N. Charter that authorize military action and because it adds a requirement that nations return to the table if any action is imminent."

If Iran remains defiant, the proposal calls for a Security Council resolution imposing sanctions under Chapter VII, Article 41 of the U.N. Charter. But it avoids any reference to Article 42, which is the trigger for possible military action to enforce any such resolution.

In an additional reassurance to Moscow and Beijing, it specifically calls for new consultations among the five permanent Security Council members on any further steps against Iran. This is meant to dispel past complaints by the Russians and Chinese that once the screws on Iran are tightened, it would automatically start a process leading to military involvement.

In Hanoi, Vietnam, U.N. chief Kofi Annan urged Tehran to examine any offer in good faith, saying: "In my contacts with the Iranians, I have appealed to them not to reject anything out of hand." He also urged Iran "to lift the cloud of uncertainty surrounding its nuclear project, whether it is seeking nuclear weapons or if it's only peaceful."

Still, Iran again appeared to rule out any compromise on its right to enrichment.

"Use of nuclear energy is a right the Iranian nation is demanding every day and standing by it," Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told thousands of people in Khorramshahr in southwestern Iran.

Despite Sawer's comments, it was not immediately clear whether the changes to the language of the proposed resolution would be enough to satisfy Russia and China because any such resolution would still declare Iran a threat to international peace, something also opposed by Moscow and Beijing. Russia and China also have until recently spoken out against possible sanctions on Tehran, their economic and strategic partner.

The draft proposal, shared in part with The Associated Press, listed among possible sanctions banning travel visas for government officials; freezing assets; banning financial transactions of key government figures and those involved in Iran's nuclear program; an arms embargo, and an embargo on shipping refined oil products to Iran. While Iran is a major exporter of crude it has a shortage of gasoline and other oil derivatives.

If Tehran agrees to suspend enrichment, enter new negotiations on its nuclear program and lift a ban on intrusive inspections by the IAEA, it would be offered rewards including agreement by the international community to "suspend discussion of Iran's file at the Security Council."

The package also promised help in "the building of new light-water reactors in Iran," offered an assured supply of nuclear fuel for up to five years, and asked Tehran to accept a plan that would move its enrichment program to Russia.