The French foreign minister said Wednesday that Iran will face U.N. sanctions for refusing to stop its nuclear development but that major world powers remain divided over their extent.
"The question is about the scope of sanctions but there will be sanctions," Philippe Douste-Blazy said on RTL radio. According to the AP, his ministry said Tuesday that closed-door talks in Paris had made "substantive progress" but failed to reach an agreement on a resolution to punish Tehran for defying demands that it cease enriching uranium.
Russia still opposes the broader asset freeze that Britain, France and Germany proposed in a draft U.N. resolution presented in October, a diplomat said. The Russians also remained resistant to a measure expanding the powers of the International Atomic Energy Agency to monitor Iran's nuclear program, considering that a "provocation" to Iran, the European diplomat said.
Meanwhile, Iran said it will not use oil as a weapon to put pressure on the international community to solve its problems, said Iran's National Security Council (SNSC) Secretary Ali Larijani on Tuesday before he left for Dubai.
Iran's top nuclear negotiator was in Dubai on an invitation of the kingdom's ruler, Sheikh Muhammad bin Rashid al-Maktum, to attend the fourth annual conference of the Arab World Strategy 2006 held on December 4-6.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the conference, Larijani said that Tehran had time and again assured the world that "it was not seeking nuclear weapons" but only recognition of its legitimate right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
