Six major powers to meet in New York to seek unity on Iran

NEW YORK (AFP) - The foreign ministers of six major powers will meet in a bid to map out a common strategy to force Iran to halt sensitive nuclear fuel work that could be used to manufacture nuclear weapons.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will host her counterparts from Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia as well as European Union foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, at a working dinner that will focus on Tehran's rejection of repeated UN demands to halt uranium enrichment.

The meeting will coincide with continuing bargaining in the 15-member UN Security Council on a Franco-British draft resolution that would legally require Iran to freeze all uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities.

But Tehran vowed Sunday that it would refuse to comply with such a resolution, warning the diplomatic crisis was heading toward a "confrontation".

French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Angela Merkel issued a joint call for a tough UN stance Sunday, saying the Security Council must adopt "a resolution making obligatory the requests of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), notably the suspension of uranium enrichment," according to the French president's office.

US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton told reporters Saturday that the ministers would "talk about the longer-term policy that we need to pursue to stop Iran from achieving a nuclear weapons capability" at Monday's meeting.

Western powers suspect Iran is using its civilian atomic program as a cover to develop nuclear weapons. But Iran insists its aims are peaceful and claims it has the right to pursue uranium enrichment as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

While insisting that it wants a diplomatic solution to the standoff with Tehran, Washington has not ruled out military action to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Russia and China adamantly oppose sanctions and the use of force against Iran, their key trading partner. They have veto power as permanent members of the Security Council along with Britain, France and the United States.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak said Saturday the Franco-British draft, which is backed by the United States and Germany, "requires major changes".

Moscow and Beijing object to the draft's reference to Chapter Seven of the UN charter and its suggestion that the Iranian nuclear program constitutes a threat to international peace and security.

Chapter Seven can authorize economic sanctions or military action as a last resort.

The proposed draft would oblige Iran to suspend uranium enrichment, the process creating fuel for nuclear reactors and -- potentially -- the core of an atomic bomb. It warns, in case of Iranian non-compliance, of unspecified "further measures" requiring another resolution.

The document needs at least nine votes and no veto from any of the council's permanent members to succeed.

The Iranian government announced Monday that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had written to US President George W. Bush to "propose new ways" to resolve tensions between the two arch enemies.

But the news broke when it was the middle of the night in Washington, and no official US reaction was immediately available.

In an interview with the German television channel ARD broadcast Sunday, Bush said the standoff must be resolved "diplomatically," adding that there must be "a common front with a common strategy" to achieve the objective.

Former national security adviser Samuel Berger said Monday the United States should publicly announce its readiness to negotiate with Iran on all issues of mutual concern, including its nuclear ambitions and existing US economic sanctions against the country.

"Proposing such a far-reaching offer is the best way to ensure broad international support for more coercive measures should these ultimately become necessary," Berger wrote in The Wall Street Journal.