The Associated Press, SOFIA, Bulgaria – Iran’s nuclear standoff with the West is expected to dominate talks Thursday between U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her counterparts from NATO and European Union nations on the eve of a U.N. deadline for Tehran to halt uranium enrichment.
The Iran question is not on NATO’s official agenda, but will be discussed at an informal dinner on the sidelines of the regular spring gathering of alliance foreign ministers meeting for the first time in Bulgaria, a member of the alliance since 2004.
NATO diplomats said allies will discuss the impact of Iran’s continued refusal to comply with the U.N. Security Council’s demands that it suspend uranium enrichment, a process that can produce fuel for nuclear reactors or material for warheads.
The United States, France and Britain say if Iran does not comply with the April 28 deadline, they will seek to make the demand compulsory — despite opposition from Russia and China, the other two veto-wielding council members. The three Western nations have also warned that noncompliance could lead to sanctions, but other allies are wary.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is due to join the NATO talks Friday.
China’s U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya said he thinks "that the room for diplomatic solution is still there," but he cautioned that "the situation is not encouraging."
Wang said the political directors of the five permanent U.N. Security Council nations — the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France — and Germany will meet in Paris on May 2 to discuss "the best approach on this issue." He said an even higher level meeting is also being considered "to see how this diplomatic solution can be found by efforts by all sides."
Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, is scheduled to report to the IAEA board and the Security Council on Friday on Iran’s implementation of its demands.
Wang said the Security Council should wait for the outcome of the May 2 meeting before discussing the report, and the IAEA should remain the main body to address the Iran nuclear issue. But U.S. Ambassador John Bolton wants the council to meet sooner and take the lead.
