Iran and EU in flat disagreement on nuclear issue ahead of Geneva talks

0 Comments | AFP, February, 2005

VIENNA (AFP) — Iran and the EU go into talks on Iran's nuclear program in Geneva Tuesday in flat disagreement over the most crucial point -- Tehran's abandoning uranium enrichment in order to guarantee it is not trying to make atomic weapons.

And time is pressing. A European diplomat told AFP that both sides are "complaining about a lack of speed" in reaching an accord.

Iran is waiting for incentive rewards, such as entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO). The United States would have to support this but it is not part of the European initiative and leads the West in charging that Iran is secretly developing nuclear weapons.

The Europeans meanwhile expect the Islamic Republic to give up work on making enriched uranium, which can be used as fuel for...