Agence France Presse – Six world powers and a European Union envoy will meet Tuesday in Paris to discuss a United Nations resolution on Iran’s nuclear programme, the French foreign ministry said.
Political directors of the five permanent UN Security Council members — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — plus Germany and a representative of EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana will take part in the meeting, a ministry spokesman said Monday.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday that the meeting would go ahead — after earlier suggestions it had been called off — but did not specify the location.
The so-called P5-plus-one group has been trying for weeks to agree on what sanctions to impose on Iran for its refusal to comply with an earlier UN resolution requiring it to freeze a uranium enrichment programme.
While all six states agree on the principle of sanctions, there are wide disagreements on what form these should take.
A draft resolution circulated by Britain, France and Germany would have barred trade with Iran in goods related to its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and slapped financial and travel restrictions on persons and agencies involved in the sectors.
But Russia and to a lesser extent China, which have extensive economic and energy ties with Iran, have tried to water down the text, while Washington, which fears Tehran is trying to develop nuclear weapons, hoped to beef it up.
