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BERLIN: Top world powers will gather in Berlin Tuesday for talks on
possible new sanctions against Iran amid fresh hopes for an accord
on a new UN Security Council resolution.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier
invited his counterparts from the five members of the Security
Council—Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States—for
a meeting aimed at keeping the pressure on Tehran to come clean
about its sensitive nuclear activities.
A French diplomat said late Monday that the
so-called P5+1 expected to reach an agreement in Berlin on a draft
Security Council resolution on a third round of sanctions against
Iran.
The German foreign ministry declined to comment.
Britain, France and Germany have spearheaded
European efforts to reach a negotiated settlement to the standoff
with Iran.
Washington and its European Union allies have of
late been pushing for a third set of UN sanctions against Iran for
defying international demands to stop uranium enrichment activities
that they fear could be used to make a bomb.
China and Russia, which have lucrative trade
ties with the Islamic republic, have been reluctant to back any more
punitive measures.
The US administration’s own intelligence on
Iran has made it difficult to convince Beijing and Moscow that
Tehran deserves new sanctions.
A National Intelligence Estimate released in
early December reported that Iran abandoned its nuclear weapons
program in 2003, a conclusion that undermined President George W.
Bush’s warnings about the Iranian threat.
Iran denies that it is seeking an atomic weapon,
insisting its nuclear program is peaceful and aimed merely at
providing energy for its growing population.
Iran agreed to clear up all outstanding issues
about its atomic drive within four weeks, after the head of the UN
atomic watchdog agency visited Tehran in mid-January.
Diplomats now indicate that Tehran could be
given a six-week grace period.
-- AFP
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