World Powers Threaten New Measures Against Iran

Louis Charbonneau : May 30, 2007, Reuters

World powers, including Russia, threatened "further appropriate measures" on Wednesday if Iran failed to comply with U.N. resolutions demanding that it suspend nuclear enrichment.
Iran reiterated it would not bow to U.N. Security Council demands to suspend uranium enrichment over Western fears it is developing nuclear arms. The world's fourth biggest oil exporter says its nuclear program is only for power generation. Iranian chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani is due to hold talks on Thursday with European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana on the long-running dispute over Tehran's nuclear program. Diplomats do not expect a breakthrough. "Should Iran continue not to heed the call of the Security Council, we shall support further appropriate measures as agreed in Resolution 1747," the Group of Eight (G8) foreign ministers said in a statement issued at a meeting in Potsdam, Germany. The term "appropriate measures" is widely seen as diplomatic code for sanctions. The U.N. has already imposed two rounds of sanctions on Iran for failing to suspend uranium enrichment, a process of purifying uranium for power plants or weapons. Besides major Western powers and Japan, the G8 grouping of leading industrialized nations also includes Russia, which has backed previous U.N. resolutions in the past while stressing Iran's right to a peaceful nuclear program. The G8 countries also said they "deeply deplore the fact that, as evidenced by the (International Atomic Energy Agency) Director General's latest report to the Security Council, Iran has expanded its enrichment program." Security Council resolution 1747 gave Tehran a 60-day deadline to freeze all enrichment work. Iran ignored the deadline, which expired last week.