EU Struggles to Keep Nuclear Dialogue with Iran Alive

In two days of talks in southern Finland beginning Friday, the ministers will also discuss ways to strengthen the European Union's influence in the Middle East -- particularly with Israel, in the wake of its month-long war against Hezbollah.

Iran's nuclear ambitions will take centre stage at the talks, in the town of Finnish Lappeenranta near the border with Russia, given Tehran's rejection of a UN Security Council deadline to freeze enrichment activities by Thursday.

Iran's defiance has forced the EU to tread a diplomatic tight-rope of working toward sanctions with the United States without compromising the dialogue with Iran.

Attempts at diplomacy to continue

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed suspicion that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons and warned Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of dire consequences if he persists with his refusal to stop uranium enrichment in his country.

While saying Iran has the right to the peaceful use of nuclear power, Steinmeier told the German mass-market daily Bild newspaper that Iran has no use for enriched uranium other than to build an atomic bomb, and added that sanctions by the United Nations' Security Council could be the next step if Iran continues to flout global concerns.

Ahmadinejad vowed that Iran "will not give up one iota of its nuclear rights," state media reported on Friday.

Ahmadinejad said Iran maintains it is exercising its right to develop civilian atomic energy but many fear that it is really trying to build a nuclear bomb, and with the UN deadline now past, diplomats are meeting to discuss which steps should be taken next.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who will brief the ministers on Saturday, sought to keep up diplomatic efforts, agreeing to meet "face-to-face" with Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani.

Germany rules out military option

Steinmeier ruled out a military confrontation with Iran in a region he describes as highly sensitive, but, without elaborating further, also said Teheran must now reckon with restrictions on its ability to act on a global scale.

Security Council members China and Russia have consistently resisted calls for sanctions against Iran in connection with its nuclear enrichment work, insisting on a diplomatic solution to the crisis.

"We take into account the experience of the past and we cannot ally ourselves with ultimatums, which all lead to a dead end," Interfax quoted Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying on Friday.

"Yes, there are countries whose policies raise doubts, and cause discontent, but we all live in the same world and we need to ... draw them into dialogue, and not isolation and sanctions," Lavrov added.

Presenting a united front

Some German politicians, however, aren't as reserved about calling for action against Teheran for disregarding the UN deadline.

"I understand that there is already agreement on a list of measures that include intelligent sanctions, which hurt first and foremost the country's elites," said Eckehardt von Klaeden, foreign policy spokesman for the ruling conservatives of Chancellor Angela Merkel.

"It's important to drive home to these sections of the population that international efforts are not focused on preventing Iran from developing nuclear power," he added. "Rather we must counteract official government propaganda that is fuelling such concerns among Iranians."

Andreas Schockenhoff, a senior conservative member of parliament, urged Germany and the five permanent Security Council members to continue to maintain a united front in their talks with Teheran.

"Iran hasn't succeeded in its aim to divide the United Nations, notably the Security Council," Schockenhoff said. "If we stand together and continue to isolate Ahmadinejad in the future, I'm convinced that we'll be able to change public perception within Iran."