High-level officials from six nations were set to meet on Tuesday in Paris
to discuss Iran's nuclear program, the French Foreign Ministry said yesterday.
Diplomats from Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States, and
Germany, as well as the European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana,
would attend the meeting, the ministry said.
Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy was optimistic on
Monday in Brussels that the upcoming meeting would be a success.
"I think that we can now reach an agreement on the text (of a UN draft
resolution)," he told reporters after meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei
Lavrov on the sidelines of a meeting of the Organisation for Security and
Cooperation in Europe.
"We are in agreement with Russia to adopt sanctions against the Iranian
program of proliferation," he added.
The UN Security Council adopted a resolution in late July, urging Tehran to
suspend by Aug. 31 all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including
research and development, or face possible sanctions.
But the Iranian government reiterated that the country would press ahead with
its nuclear program despite the UN warning.
Iran has repeatedly said its nuclear energy agenda is limited to generating
electricity.
The six nations have already held several informal meetings on the possible
sanctions which are deemed as too tough by Russia.