LONDON, 19 September 2005 — The international community will not go down a military path to solve the standoff over Iran’s nuclear program, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw insisted, despite unease at Tehran’s latest proposals.
In interviews with the BBC, Straw described as “disappointing and unhelpful” Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s much-anticipated address to the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday.
“This standoff will not be resolved by military means, let’s be clear about that,” Straw told BBC radio yesterday.
“It needs to be resolved by all facilities available to the international community, that is what we have been working on and continue to work on,” Straw added.
The foreign secretary was reacting to Iran’s latest proposals to end an impasse over its nuclear program, which the United States suspects is a cover for weapons development, and thwart a move toward possible UN sanctions.
Ahmadinejad outlined Saturday four proposals to the UN, including an offer to “engage in serious partnership with private and public sectors of other countries in the implementation of the uranium-enrichment program in Iran”. But Straw said Tehran’s offer “fails properly to add up”. Straw told BBC television there had yet to be a “satisfactory answer” explaining why Iran needed to develop nuclear fuel technology when there was no power station for its civilian use.
Iran says its nuclear program is legal and restricted to civilian energy aims, a position backed by Russia, China and other countries.
Britain, France and Germany have meanwhile been trying to use economic and security incentives to persuade Tehran to renounce its nuclear fuel cycle work.
“This is about the whole of the international community, there is a board at the IAEA where it has been decided on 17 successive occasions unanimously that Iran must bring itself into full compliance with its own obligations for complete transparency under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty,” Straw told BBC television.
