Brussels, 21/11/2005 (Agence Europe) - Meeting on Monday in Brussels, EU foreign ministers heard a report from the EU-3 (Germany, France and the UK) and Javier Solana on the situation of the Iranian nuclear issue with a view to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board meeting in Vienna on 24 November. Jack Straw, British Foreign Minister and President-in-Office of the Council, said at the final press conference that their discussions were to take stock of the decisions that are to be made at the Vienna meeting. He went on to say that they are all concerned by the latest developments and that Iran was becoming increasingly isolated due to its own decisions.
The decision to be taken by the IAEA governors on whether or not the dossier on Iran's nuclear programme should be referred to the UN Security Council will be based on the report by the Agency's Director General, Mohamed El Baradei, who is expected to point out whether there is more or less transparency and cooperation on the part of Teheran. “Full transparency on the part of Iran is essential and we are still waiting for it”, El Baradei said last week. The IAEA also deplores the fact that its inspectors have still not been granted access to sensitive military sites. On 20 November, the Iranian parliament approved the principle of a law which threatened to refuse greater control of sensitive sites, to resume uranium enrichment and to allow Teheran to withdraw from the additional NPT protocol.