Ashton seeks talks with Iran as EU eyes more sanctions (Roundup)

Jun 14, 2010, 17:36 GMT

Luxembourg - European Union foreign-policy chief Catherine Ashton on Monday said that she wants to talk directly with Iran about the country's nuclear programme, as EU states eyed more sanctions.

The Iranian nuclear programme has been the subject of several sets of United Nations sanctions, the last of which was approved on Wednesday.

Diplomats at an EU foreign ministers' meeting in Luxembourg on Monday said that they were set to push for even more sanctions.

'I have written to Mr Saeed Jalili, the (Iranian) chief negotiator, inviting him to meet with me to now discuss nuclear weapons issues and to take forward the twin-track approach' of talks backed up with sanctions, Ashton told journalists.

Western powers suspect that Iran's nuclear programme is designed to create an atomic bomb, something that Tehran denies.

Wednesday's UN Security Council resolution 1929 imposed a series of sanctions on Iran, including a ban on arms sales and travel restrictions and asset freezes for key regime figures and businesses.

But EU diplomats say that the bloc is likely to impose its own 'top-up' sanctions as well, targeting, in particular, the banking, insurance, transport and shipping industries, as well as investment and technologies for the oil and gas sector.

'I think there is very strong support for the position that the EU should take ... additional measures,' British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on the margin of talks with EU counterparts.

Hague said there was 'a lot of support' for 'sanctions to include the financial sector and oil & gas investment,' but recognised that a final decision would only be taken at a summit of EU leaders, convened in Brussels on Thursday.

Diplomats said objections to stronger sanctions were raised by Sweden, whose officials argued that an excessive tightening of sanctions could cause Tehran's officials to refuse offers of a negotiated solution.

Other countries, including Germany, were said to be wary of hurting their own commercial interests in the country.

German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle stressed the aim was 'to make the Iranian leadership come back to the negotiating table,' but acknowledged extra measures were 'necessary.'

Germany is a member of the '5+1' negotiating group on the Iranian nuclear programme, which also includes the five permanent members of the United Nations' Security Council - United States, France, Britain, Russia and China.

On Thursday, EU leaders are expected to signal the bloc's 'willingness to talk' to Iran, but also warn the regime that the recent compromise deal it struck with Turkey and Brazil to have some of its uranium enriched abroad, under international supervision, does not go far enough.

Diplomats said that following a general endorsement from EU leaders, the package of extra sanctions would be approved by foreign ministers at their next monthly meeting on July 26.