NO SANCTIONS - - - FURTHER NEGOTIATIONS WITH IRAN

Allies lead a wary US into new negotiations with Iran
(AFP)
20 September 2006

NEW YORK - Months of tough-talking US diplomacy on Iran’s suspected nuclear weapons program faded from view Wednesday after Washington formally endorsed a new round of negotiations with Teheran following talks here with its major allies.

Tuesday night’s meeting of seven nations closely involved in the Iran standoff had been billed by Washington as the moment when the international community would back up its demand that Teheran suspend its uranium enrichment program with UN sanctions against the Islamic republic.

The sanctions are called for under a unanimous UN Security Council resolution which gave Iran until August 31 to halt the uranium enrichment, which the US and others believe is a cover for development of nuclear weapons.

But France, China and Russia—all veto-wielding permanent members of the Security Council—have balked at following through with sanctions.

The standoff was at the center of discussions Tuesday when US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hosted the dinner meeting of foreign ministers from the other four permanent Security Council members—Britain, China, France and Russia—plus Germany and Italy
And instead of an agreement on how to proceed with punitive measures against Iran, the meeting resulted in Washington backing a plan for a new round of negotiations with the Iranians, a senior US official said.

Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said the negotiations would be conducted later this week between European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani.

There was “very strong support for Javier Solana’s negotiations,” including from the US, Burns told reporters after the meeting.

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1) Allies lead a wary US into new negotiations with Iran