Diplomats: Security Council meeting on Iran postponed
By Associated Press
May 17, 2006
Haaretz
Original Source: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/717057.html


A top-level, six-nation meeting on Iran has been postponed while the United States lobbies other United Nations Security Council permanent members to harden proposed penalties if Tehran does not give up uranium enrichment, diplomats said Wednesday.

The London meeting of senior representatives from the five permanent council members and Germany was to have been held Friday. But diplomats told The Associated Press that it had been moved to Tuesday or Wednesday to allow more time for phone discussions on what should be included in a package of incentives and penalties to be offered to Tehran, a diplomat said, demanding anonymity because of the confidential nature of the information.

The U.S. agreed last week to support new European efforts to restart negotiations with Iran on the basis of incentives if it agrees to freeze enrichment, a possible pathway to nuclear arms - and penalties if it does not.

With Iran's nuclear program now before the Security Council, the Americans are at the forefront of efforts to introduce a council resolution demanding that Iran give up enrichment, while dangling the threat of sanctions if does not. 

Washington seeks to make such a resolution militarily enforceable, something opposed by Russia and China, which continue instead to favor talks meant to persuade Tehran to compromise.

In the latest sign of persisting differences, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday that Beijing and Moscow would not vote for the use of force in resolving the nuclear dispute.

In a gesture to Tehran, Lavrov also said Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would attend a summit next month in Shanghai of leaders from Russia, China and four Central Asian nations.

We cannot isolate Iran or exert pressure on it, Lavrov told reporters. Far from resolving this issue of proliferation, it will make it more urgent.

One possible European proposal confirmed Tuesday by diplomats - adding a 
light-water reactor to a package of incentives meant to persuade Tehran to give up enrichment - was rejected out of hand by Ahmadinejad on Wednesday.

Do you think you are dealing with a 4-year-old child to whom you can give some walnuts and chocolates and get gold from him? Ahmadinejad said in a speech to thousands of people in central Iran.

In any case, it was likely to be accepted by the Americans only if there was also agreement on a tough Security Council resolution as a penalty for Iranian rejection of the European overtures.

Laying out America's insistence on not only rewards but also potential 
penalties for Iran, John Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, described any such European offer as part of a package of carrots and sticks, adding: We're not supporting half a package.