Brussels, 21/11/2011 (Agence Europe) - France's Foreign Minister Alain Juppé announced, on Friday 18 November, further sanctions of “unprecedented scale” against Iran if the country refuses to comply with the demands of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) with regard to its nuclear programme. He urges Iran to heed the message delivered by the IAEA.
Juppé's Italian and German counterparts, Giulio Terzi di Sant'Agata and Guido Westerwelle, underlined on 20 November the urgent need to step up international pressure on Iran, including with sanctions, so that Iran change its behaviour and cooperate with the international community. According to the American media company ABC, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada planned, on Monday 21 November, to take a series of coordinated measures against Teheran.
On Friday last, the EU high representative for foreign affairs, Catherine Ashton, urged Iran, once again, to give a positive response to the offer and proposals made by the E3+3 (Germany, France, UK, China, USA and Russia). Ashton said she was still waiting for an answer to her letter despatched on 21 October this year to Dr Jalili on the nuclear issue. Teheran is ready to cooperate “more” with the IAEA if the latter strikes a balance in its position in relation to Iran, states Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi. (CG/transl.jl)