British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said Friday she anticipated no significant decisions from a London gathering of six major powers convened to address Iran's nuclear program. Representatives from the United States, France, Germany, China, and Russia were called together for the talks, though attendance was uncertain, with the Chinese delegate possibly unable to participate.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice described the meeting as scaled back due to scheduling conflicts, adding that more substantive discussions would likely follow early the next week. Her arrival in London was delayed by over two hours after mechanical trouble grounded a US military aircraft she had been using in Iraq.
Both Beckett and Rice suggested that diplomatic efforts to bring Iran back to the negotiating table had largely failed since the UN passed a resolution in late July. Iran had missed a 31 August UN deadline to suspend uranium enrichment, and EU envoy Javier Solana confirmed to the European Parliament that Tehran had not agreed to halt the activity.
Beckett declined to say whether the group would move toward imposing sanctions, noting only that the question remained on the table for discussion. Washington maintains that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons under civilian cover, a charge Tehran firmly rejects.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in October 2006, in its own words.