“I have to say unfortunately this is not a new transparency,’’ Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle of Germany said. “It does not mean there is a change - that is the situation and we have to face it.’’
Standing in the way of new sanctions, however, is China, whose foreign minister, Yang Jiechi, in Munich urged the world on Friday to be patient and keep up diplomatic efforts with Iran.
The IAEA has proposed to have Iran export a significant amount of low-enriched uranium for processing, to be returned as refined fuel rods that can power reactors but cannot be readily turned into weapons-grade material.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran suggested last week that he would agree to the proposal, but it was unclear how much of a concession his comments represented.
Among other things, his time frame of four or five months appeared to fall short of the year that Western officials say it would take for Iran’s enriched fuel to be turned into fuel rods for the reactor.
He also did not address whether his country was ready to ship out most of its stockpile in one batch - another condition set by the six world powers, the five UN Security Council nations and Germany, endorsing the fuel swap.
Mottaki met with the International Atomic Energy Agency’s director general, Yukiya Amano, behind closed doors yesterday. Afterward, Mottaki said the two had discussed the details of the uranium export proposal, but he did not mention any tangible progress.
“I personally see the situation as positive for reaching an understanding,’’ he said.
Amano would not comment on specific details of the discussion. “There was not a proposal,’’ he said. “We exchanged views.’’
The United States and its Western allies have been pushing for a fourth round of UN sanctions to be slapped on Iran.
Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg of Germany dismissed Mottaki’s comments as a “transparent play for time.’’
Russian officials, who have been skeptical of any new UN penalties, even indicated yesterday that they were losing patience. ‘They must cooperate fully with the IAEA and close those questions that have been on the table for a long time,’’ Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
In Ankara, Gates rejected Mottaki’s comments that progress was being made.
“The reality is they’ve done nothing to assure the international community’’ or “to stop their progress toward [building] a nuclear weapon,’’ Gates said.
In Munich, meanwhile, US national security adviser James Jones spoke of Iran’s continued “puzzling defiance’’ and said there were no indications that the country was willing to pursue a new course.
Tehran maintains that its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes, such as electricity production, but Western powers are concerned Iran is trying to build an atomic weapon, which would destabilize the region.
