Iran, Eu3 plan last-minute talks on nuclear crisis

MOSCOW – Reuters- Iran and the European Union announced on Thursday last-minute talks in the crisis over Tehran’s nuclear programme but neither side appeared to have new proposals to put forward to find a way out of the impasse.

First word of the talks came from Iran's nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani in Moscow who said Tehran would meet the European Union troika of Britain, Germany and France before March 6.

That is when the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will meet to decide whether to report Iran to the UN Security Council over its nuclear programme.

The talks were subsequently confirmed by Britain which said the EU3 planned ministerial-level talks with Iran’s Larijani in Vienna on Friday.

But a source in Britain said the EU troika had no new proposals to put forward and Larijani in Moscow failed to make any mention of the crucial point - whether Tehran would bow to Western calls for it to stop uranium enrichment at home.

Enrichment is a crucial step which can be used to build nuclear weapons.

« Iran requested the meeting, we will listen to what Iran has to say but we have no new proposals, » a spokesman for Britain’s Foreign Office said.

« Our talks with the EU3 are being held for us to say we are in favour of holding constructive negotiations, » Larijani said.

The West, led by the United States, suspects the Islamic Republic is covertly seeking to build an atomic weapon. Iran denies this, saying it is pursuing nuclear programmes purely for civilian use.

On Wednesday night after a day of talks with Russian officials, Larijani showed no signs of backing down on what he said was Tehran’s « sovereign right » to pursue enrichment on its own territory.

Russia, as a way out of the impasse, has offered a joint venture under which it would carry out enrichment for Iran on Russian soil.

Larijani said no date had been set for future talks on the Russian proposal.

He seized the opportunity to take a swipe at Washington, saying that US pressure to report Iran to the UN Security Council was hurting prospects of reaching agreement with Russia.

« I say that the Americans are saying one thing while putting a stick in the wheel of the Russian proposal. »