UNITED NATIONS, June 28 (KUNA) -- British envoy Karen Pierce on Thursday said the Iranian nuclear file may not return to the Security Council any time soon because of the ongoing talks between EU Foreign Policy chief Javier Solana and Iranian nuclear chief negotiator Ali Larijani.
"It's possible that it will take longer this time than we have taken in previous occasions," Pierce, British Deputy Permanent Represntative, told KUNA. Other diplomats said the file may not return to the council before the end of August.
Both officials met last week in Portugal and are expected to meet again in three weeks. Subsequently, Larijani met with IAEA chief Mohammed ElBaradei in Vienna, Austria, and invited him to send experts to Iran for further inspections of suspected sites.
"Inviting IAEA experts is helpful, but whether or not it makes a serious contribution to the next steps, I don't think we know yet. It's helpful, but not more than helpful," Pierce said. "We haven't yet brought it (file) back to the council. So for the moment it is still (among) the Solana-Larijani and the E3 (UK, France, Germany) plus 3 (US, Russia, China) group. We evaluate it step by step. There is always the risk that we're being played a game that it is never going to come to fruition. But at the moment the issue is still between capitals. I don't have a date for bringing it to the council," she added.
The council imposed limited sanctions on Iran in resolution 1737 last December for refusing to halt uranium enrichment activities, and tightened them in resolution 1747 last March, vowing to tighten them even more after sixty days if the IAEA reports that Iran has not complied with the council and IAEA demands.
The IAEA issued its report on May 23 confirming that Iran not only defied those demands but also expanded its activities.
Around that period Iran began talks with Solana and now the door is open for further talks and visits by IAEA experts, and in the meantime, the council is in "wait and see" mood.
UN spokesperson Michele Montas reiterated to KUNA Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's position which is "essentially, the Security Council should let the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency work towards a resolution of the dispute over Iran's nuclear development programme." This can be interpreted that for Ban it is not the council's business to interfere, let alone impose or tighten sanctions.
Belgian Foreign Minister Karel de Gucht earlier this week told KUNA that Solana-Larijani talks are "important and useful" but do not substitute council actions and do not certainly make council deadlines "ludicrous." "Their talks don't make the council deadlines ludicrous. It is important that the political process is giving results and that's what we should aim at.
" He urged Iran "to make up its mind (because) time is running out." "The message to Iran is very clear: you have to come to grips with the problem and you have to come up with practical proposals," he added. (end) sj.tg KUNA 282147 Jun 07NNNN