RIYADH, 24 May 2006 — A multilateral initiative involving officials from six countries will meet in London today to draw up a strategy to prevent Iran from pursuing its nuclear-enrichment program, Saudi and German top officials announced at a press conference in Riyadh yesterday. The six countries are the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany
Meanwhile, the six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council, including Saudi Arabia, will send a representative to Iran to convey the region’s concern over Tehran’s nuclear program. The GCC is seeking assurance from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that his nuclear program is for energy purposes alone.
At a joint press conference at the Foreign Ministry here, Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal and his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier referred to the ongoing efforts to achieve a peaceful solution to the standoff over Iran’s controversial uranium enrichment program. The core of the standoff revolves around Iran’s unwillingness to prove that it is not producing the highly enriched uranium that can only be used for weapons production.
While both Germany and Saudi Arabia underlined their shared perceptions on Iran and Iraq, there was a discordant note over the situation in Palestine. “We have not agreed on all the points, although we agree on the need for the Middle East peace process to move forward,” said Steinmeier, adding that this could happen when the Hamas-led government recognizes Israel’s right to exist and renounces the use of force.
Steinmeier earlier had talks with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and Crown Prince Sultan, deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation.
The German minister and his accompanying delegation arrived here on a two-day visit as part of his swing through the Gulf states. Prince Saud and German Ambassador Gerhard Schroembgens received the delegation on arrival.
The German delegation also called on Prince Sultan ibn Fahd, head of the Kingdom’s Youth Welfare Presidency, and his deputy Prince Nawaf ibn Faisal for talks on Saudi Arabia’s participation in World Cup 2006 in Germany, starting June 9.
In another development, Prince Saud announced that the next session of the Saudi-German Forum would be held in November to mark the 75th anniversary of the Saudi-German Friendship Treaty. Germany is the Kingdom’s third-largest trading partner.
