Major powers hold talks on Iran nuclear program
News source : msn.com

The United States and five other world powers resumed consultations Saturday on a new UN resolution designed to force Iran to give up its disputed nuclear program, the State Department said.

Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns and political directors from China, Russia, France, Britain and Germany held new discussions by phone after a two-hour phone session on Thursday, spokesman Kurtis Cooper told AFP.

Cooper said he had no immediate details on the talks.

The State Department on Thursday reported the six countries had made progress towards reaching consensus on a new, tougher text against Iran for its refusal to give up uranium enrichment work that Washington fears could lead to a nuclear bomb.

US officials said only a few issues remained to be nailed down and expressed hope that UN ambassadors from the six countries could begin drafting a new resolution next week.

A spokesman for the French foreign ministry in Paris also said "the six held a telephone conference" on Saturday but refused to give further details.

As major powers weighed their next move, Iran's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad held talks with King Abdullah in Saudi Arabia that were expected to touch on Tehran's nuclear program as well as sectarian violence in Iraq and the crisis in Lebanon.

Ahmadinejad left Saudi Arabia late Saturday after the talks, an official Saudi source told AFP. No details about them were immediately available.

The UN Security Council imposed sanctions against Tehran in December after the UN's nuclear watchdog reported last week that Iran had failed to halt its uranium enrichment work and was even expanding its efforts in defiance of international demands.

Iran has denied seeking atomic weapons, and asserts it has a right to a peaceful nuclear program. It vowed again on Tuesday never to yield to the West's demand for a freeze on sensitive nuclear work.

The sanctions imposed in December focused on an embargo on the sale of nuclear-related materials to Iran as well as an asset and travel freeze. The measures were agreed only after months of tense negotiations, with Russia in particular resisting US pressure for tougher action.

The rapid progress on a second sanctions package after the laborious negotiations last year appears to reflect Washington's willingness to accept less extensive punitive measures.

Senior US and European officials have indicated that new UN sanctions being drawn up against Iran would involve only a relatively minor tightening of measures imposed by the world body in December.

"This is going to be an incremental resolution," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters on Friday.

A senior US official said the resolution would not include significant new punitive steps but would rather extend targeted measures against firms and individuals involved with Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy also said Friday in Paris that the new resolution would focus on "deepening" of the targeted actions taken in December.

McCormack acknowledged Friday that Washington had been surprised at the effectiveness of the December resolution once it had been watered down by Russian objections.

US officials assert that the mere existence of mandatory UN sanctions against Tehran has begun to discourage foreign investors from doing business in Iran and is fueling unusual dissent inside the country against Ahmadinejad.

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