CHINA:China has dealt a blow to western efforts to increase diplomatic pressure on Iran over its nuclear programme by dropping out of a meeting to discuss tougher sanctions against Tehran.
Russia, which like China opposes further UN sanctions against Iran, added fuel to the fire by announcing yesterday that the UN nuclear watchdog would soon start inspecting and sealing atomic fuel bound for an Iranian reactor.
The West fears that Iran wants to develop atomic weapons but Iran denies this. Political directors from Britain, France, Germany, the United States, Russia and China were due to meet on Monday to assess reports about Tehran's nuclear programme from the United Nations and from EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.
"I think it's partly related to genuine travel difficulties, but also linked to resistance on the broader question of sanctions from that quarter," a European diplomatic source said.
Russian state-owned nuclear fuel producer TVEL said inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will begin preparatory work on November 26th-29th on a shipment of nuclear fuel bound for the Bushehr nuclear plant.
"We are ready to provide IAEA specialists with all the conditions they need to do their work," said Konstantin Grabelnikov, deputy head of Russia's Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrate Plant, which is preparing the fuel.
Russia has so far given no specific date for when it will send the nuclear fuel to Bushehr, but says it would be sent six months before the plant's start-up. As a result of payment delays, the plant's start-up has been put back to at least 2008.
Reacting to the IAEA's latest report on its investigation of Iran's nuclear programme, the US said on Thursday it would work with its allies for a third round of UN sanctions. But some European diplomats say it may not be possible to persuade Russia and China - both permanent veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council - to support a third round. As a result, France is pushing for the EU to impose its own separate US-style sanctions on Iran.
While Russia and China appear to be breaking away from the US, Britain and France, the sixth country involved in negotiations on how to punish Iran, Germany, appeared to be adopting a harder line on Iran sanctions.
In Berlin a German foreign ministry spokesman was asked what Germany would do if the security council failed to approve tougher sanctions.
"The foreign minister has made clear that if this is the case we would take up this issue in Europe and consider together what steps could be taken by Europe," spokesman Martin Jaeger said.