WASHINGTON - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed renewed support Monday for European efforts to talk Iran out of its suspected nuclear arms program despite fears the negotiations could collapse.
Rice made her remarks after talks here with French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier, whose country is working along with Germany and Britain to wean Tehran off its suspected nuclear ambitions with economic and security incentives.
"I reiterated to the foreign minister our support for the EU-3 negotiations with Iran that are aimed at getting Iran to give confidence to the international community," Rice said.
She said the Islamic Republic must be "prepared to live up to its international obligations not to seek a nuclear weapon under cover of civilian nuclear power development."
Barnier hailed US-French cooperation on a range of issues, including what he called "the fragile and necessary negotiations with Iran in the broader context of nonproliferation."
Iran's top negotiator, Hassan Rowhani, said over the weekend that Tehran was unhappy with the progress of the talks and may resume uranium conversion in defiance of an agreed suspension of such activities.
Rice and Barnier spoke after German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer told reporters that a resumption of Iran's uranium enrichment activities would mean a collapse of the talks with Tehran.
"It is the foundation of the talks that the uranium enrichment remains suspended," Fischer said on the sidelines of a conference on non-proliferation at the United Nations in New York.
A senior nuclear official in Iran said later that Tehran had no plans for the time being to resume uranium enrichment.
US officials have never hid their scepticism over European efforts to wean the Iranians off their suspected nuclear weapons ambitions with trade, economic and security incentives.
Washington has long pushed to take the matter to the United Nations, but it changed tack after a round of grumbling by its allies and a fence-mending trip to Europe in February by President George W. Bush.
The administration announced in March it would support moves to offer Iran some carrots, including dropping the US objection to Iran's application to join the World Trade Organization.
The Americans also said they would consider on a case-by-case basis the licensing of spare parts for Iran's fleet of civilian aircraft.
05/02/2005 18:09 GMT