UN:EFFORTS TO secure a new round of economic sanctions against Iran at the United Nations will begin soon, US and British officials said yesterday after Tehran sidestepped an initiative aimed at launching negotiations over its disputed nuclear programme.
The US called Iran's response "unacceptable", Germany said it was "inadequate", and Kim Howells, a British foreign minister, said there was "no choice but to pursue further sanctions against Iran".
Their comments followed a telephone conference call yesterday between Javier Solana, the European Union's foreign policy chief, and senior officials from the six powers pushing to negotiate an end to Iran's uranium-enrichment programme. These include China, France and Russia.
They discussed a one-page letter from Saeed Jalili, Iran's senior nuclear negotiator, received on Tuesday, which they had hoped would contain a response to their proposal.
The proposal suggests a six-week period in which the powers would halt efforts to secure new sanctions in return for Iranian agreement not to augment its uranium-enrichment programme.
During this period, known as "freeze for freeze", the two sides would discuss how to start negotiations properly - this would begin once Iran stopped enriching uranium altogether. The proposal had US backing, underlined by the presence of William Burns, the number three official in the state department, at a six-power meeting with Mr Jalili and Mr Solana on July 19th.
But Mr Jalili's letter, which, according to one official, covered just one side of paper in large-type English and half a page in Farsi, did not state Iran's position on "freeze for freeze", officials said.
Iran, the letter said, "is ready to provide a clear response to your proposal at the earliest opportunity while simultaneously expecting a clear response to our questions and ambiguities as well".
This was rejected publicly by London, Washington, Paris and Berlin and appears to have disappointed Russia and China, which have taken a softer line towards Iran. The officials agreed Mr Solana would continue informal contacts with Tehran. "This was at the lowest end of expectations," one British official said of the letter.
Vitaly Churkin, Russia's ambassador to the UN, told reporters: "We would have preferred a clear yes. But it is more complicated than that . . . We do believe that dialogue can continue."