Moscow -- A global coalition seeking to ensure that Iran does not acquire the capability to produce nuclear weapons now shows a growing sense of urgency in dealing with the issue, a top U.S. diplomat said Wednesday after multilateral meetings. The coalition has not yet agreed on what steps to take, the diplomat said.
Speaking after two days of talks that included representatives of the Group of 8 industrial nations and key members of the U.N. Security Council, U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said all participants were anxiously seeking some way of pressuring Iran to rein in its nuclear ambitions.
"What's new is, I think, a greater sense of urgency, given what the Iranians did last week," Burns said at a news conference Wednesday, referring to fresh steps in uranium enrichment announced by Iran.
Iran says that it is seeking to master uranium enrichment technology to have a self-sufficient nuclear energy industry and that it is not seeking to develop nuclear weapons. But the United States and other countries that met in Moscow say Iran's actions have shown that its goal is to produce atomic bombs. Uranium enrichment can be used either to produce fuel for nuclear power plants or material for bombs.
Burns discussed Iran at a dinner meeting Tuesday with representatives of Russia, China, Britain, France, Germany and the European Union.
"What I heard in the room last night," Burns said Wednesday, "was not agreement on the specific way forward, but on the general notion that Iran has to feel the isolation, the pressure of the international community, they have to have some cost to what they're doing. And I felt that was a significant step forward."
Both Russia and China have argued against using sanctions to pressure Iran. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov used tough language Wednesday to criticize Iran, although he did not offer specifics of what steps might be taken by the major powers.
"The participants of yesterday's meeting all agreed that Iran is required to take urgent and constructive steps" in response to concerns expressed by the International Atomic Energy Agency, Lavrov said in televised remarks. "It was decided to continue contacts in various formats to carry the message across to the leadership of Iran."
The Russian news agency Interfax reported Wednesday that an Iranian delegation had met diplomats from Britain, France and Germany and with Russian officials. There were no immediate reports about what occurred at the session.
Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar, on a visit to Azerbaijan Wednesday, reiterated his country's determination to move forward with its nuclear efforts.
"The realization of Iran's nuclear program is a sovereign right of the Iranian people," he said in remarks carried by Russian state-run television. "Iran is continuing to develop its nuclear program for peaceful purposes in accordance with the demands of millions of Iranians."
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Originally Posted by DonTonberry
