BRUSSELS - EU talks with Iran on curbing its nuclear program are going slower than hoped for, but negotiators still hope an accord can be reached, the EU states leading the talks said in a progress report Friday.
But Britain, France and Germany, which have spearheaded the diplomatic initiative, warned that if there is no accord the EU would support a US call for Iran to be referred to the UN Security Council.
"While progress is not as fast as we would wish, we believe we are moving in the right direction... and that we should have at least preliminary results to show from the negotiations in the period ahead," they said in a report to the EU`s Luxembourg presidency.
The report, co-signed by EU foreign policy head Javier Solana, said that if Iran continues to suspend uranium enrichment activities and that is verified by the UN`s IAEA nuclear watchdog, the issue could be resolved by IAEA governors.
"If on the other hand, despite our efforts Iran does not do so, then as has been implicit in the agreements reached with Iran and well understood by all concerned, we shall have no choice but to support referring Iran`s nuclear programme to the UN Security Council," they said.
03/11/2005 12:44 GMT