This is getting serious Europe, the E. U. can?’t keep its nose out of the United States?’s Business,
they are trying to influence the American election in Mr. Kerry?’s favor!
EU urges Bush to adopt Kerry line on Iran
European governments are lobbying the Bush administration to change course over Iran before next month's presidential election, urging Washington to adopt an incentive-driven policy that Senator John Kerry has already pledged, according to diplomats and US politicians.
President George W. Bush and his Democratic rival agreed in their first election debate on Thursday night that nuclear proliferation posed the most serious threat to US security. But there was clear disagreement over how to stop the suspected weapons programmes of both Iran and North Korea.
According to unnamed diplomats and a Kerry adviser, senior officials from Germany and the Netherlands - which currently holds the European Union presidency - had high-level meetings on Iran with both the White House and the Kerry camp in recent days.
''The European message was that we cannot let weeks pass before the next deadline without doing something,'' one diplomat said. ''We need a last-ditch approach, not more pressure, but a mix with a package and incentives.''
Several sources said the White House officials responded with considerable scepticism to the European initiative, but did not reject it outright. The White House on Friday declined to comment.
The deadline in question is the next board meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency in late November. The US says it will press again for a resolution to refer Iran to the United Nations Security Council as a first step toward condemnation and sanctions.
The US refuses to speak to Iran directly, but Germany, the UK and France - collectively known as the EU3 - have held talks with Iran over the past year, focused on persuading the clerical regime to give up development of the whole nuclear fuel cycle.
''Kerry and the European positions are close in a number of ways,'' said Robert Einhorn, a proliferation expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies who has been involved in the discussions over Iran.
The European proposal would offer Iran guaranteed and closely monitored supplies of nuclear fuel for its civilian reactors in exchange for an end to Iran's development of the full fuel cycle - specifically the enrichment of uranium that can be used to make nuclear weapons.
But senior Iranian officials have told the Financial Times that this is not acceptable. Diplomats believe the issue is still negotiable with more flexibility from the US.
Mr Kerry and the Europeans also agree on the need for the US to engage Iran directly, Mr Einhorn said.
The Bush administration wants to block all nuclear co-operation with Iran. It also demands the dismantling of North Korea's entire nuclear programme, civilian and military.
they are trying to influence the American election in Mr. Kerry?’s favor!
EU urges Bush to adopt Kerry line on Iran
European governments are lobbying the Bush administration to change course over Iran before next month's presidential election, urging Washington to adopt an incentive-driven policy that Senator John Kerry has already pledged, according to diplomats and US politicians.
President George W. Bush and his Democratic rival agreed in their first election debate on Thursday night that nuclear proliferation posed the most serious threat to US security. But there was clear disagreement over how to stop the suspected weapons programmes of both Iran and North Korea.
According to unnamed diplomats and a Kerry adviser, senior officials from Germany and the Netherlands - which currently holds the European Union presidency - had high-level meetings on Iran with both the White House and the Kerry camp in recent days.
''The European message was that we cannot let weeks pass before the next deadline without doing something,'' one diplomat said. ''We need a last-ditch approach, not more pressure, but a mix with a package and incentives.''
Several sources said the White House officials responded with considerable scepticism to the European initiative, but did not reject it outright. The White House on Friday declined to comment.
The deadline in question is the next board meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency in late November. The US says it will press again for a resolution to refer Iran to the United Nations Security Council as a first step toward condemnation and sanctions.
The US refuses to speak to Iran directly, but Germany, the UK and France - collectively known as the EU3 - have held talks with Iran over the past year, focused on persuading the clerical regime to give up development of the whole nuclear fuel cycle.
''Kerry and the European positions are close in a number of ways,'' said Robert Einhorn, a proliferation expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies who has been involved in the discussions over Iran.
The European proposal would offer Iran guaranteed and closely monitored supplies of nuclear fuel for its civilian reactors in exchange for an end to Iran's development of the full fuel cycle - specifically the enrichment of uranium that can be used to make nuclear weapons.
But senior Iranian officials have told the Financial Times that this is not acceptable. Diplomats believe the issue is still negotiable with more flexibility from the US.
Mr Kerry and the Europeans also agree on the need for the US to engage Iran directly, Mr Einhorn said.
The Bush administration wants to block all nuclear co-operation with Iran. It also demands the dismantling of North Korea's entire nuclear programme, civilian and military.
