France demands quick reply from Iran on nuclear issue

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - France has called on Iran to respond quickly to the latest European proposal that it suspend its uranium enrichment proposal in parallel with the start of negotiations on improving relations between the West and the Islamic republic.

"We must have a response fairly quickly," said French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy on Wednesday, "it's becoming urgent."

Douste-Blazy attended a meeting Tuesday night of the main powers dealing with the Iran issue which notably resulted in the United States backing away from its demand for immediate sanctions against Iran over its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment as demanded by a UN resolution.

At the meeting, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice agreed to permit a new round of negotiations between European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana and the Iranians in hopes of convincing Tehran to meet the UN demand, US officials said.

If Iran suspends its enrichment, which Washington and others believe is aimed at producing nuclear weapons, Rice said she would personally attend the launch of direct negotiations with Tehran aimed at rewarding the Islamic republic for winding down its nuclear program.

But Washington also got its partners to agree to a new deadline for imposing sanctions if Iran stands firm, according to senior US and European officials who were present at the meeting.

The US officials declined to reveal the new deadline, but a European diplomat said Solana would be given until the first week of October to achieve results in his talks with Iranian negotiator Ali Larijani.

Douste-Blazy said Tuesday's meeting of the foreign ministers of Britain, China, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and the United States had agreed on the need to give Iran one more chance to reach a negotiated settlement of the dispute.

"We all thought that we had to avoid confrontation and do everything possible to pursue a dialogue ... while also avoiding a situation where the Iranians, through meeting after meeting, are able to play for time and we end up with a fait accompli" of an Iranian nuclear weapons program, he said.

Douste-Blazy was due to meet Iranian Foreign Minister Manoucher Mottaki later Wednesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, a diplomat said.

At the same time, however, chances of a quick breakthrough in the standoff dimmed with the announcement that Larijani would not meet with Solana in New York this week as expected.

Instead, Larijani and Solana agreed in a telephone conversation to hold talks next week in an unidentified European capital, the official Iranian news agency reported in Tehran.