Brussels, 28/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 27 September, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton said, after her meeting with the E3+3 (Germany, France, United Kingdom and China, United States and Russia), that Iran must take action urgently to give assurance on its nuclear programme. “We discussed at length the need for Iran to take action urgently”, Ashton said, adding that she was going, “from this meeting”, to be in touch with Iran to continue this process. No date has been set for this at the current time.
During this E3+3 meeting which, according to our sources, lasted about half and hour, Ashton reviewed her latest contact with the chief Iranian negotiation Saïd Jalili on 17 September (see EUROPE 10692), which took place as part of the negotiations. The E3+3 meeting was preceded by a meeting of the political directors, for over an hour and a half.
The French minister for foreign affairs, Laurent Fabius, said that the meeting had been short because the E3+3 is united in its attitude on the Iranian nuclear question. “We agreed that the main word is 'unity' and to exert pressure”, he said. In his speech at the United Nations General Assembly on Monday 24 September, US President Barack Obama said that the time for negotiation was not “unlimited” (see EUROPE 10697). The French, German and British foreign affairs ministers called for European sanctions against Iran to be strengthened (see EUROPE 10695). The Israeli prime minister called on the United Nations on Thursday 27 September to define “a red line” for preventing Iran from obtaining the nuclear bomb. (CG/transl.fl)