Brussels, 19/09/2007 (Agence Europe) - At a European Parliament conference on Tuesday 18 September, several specialists and MEPs debated the Union's position towards Iran, in the light of Tehran's nuclear programme. “By using economic sanctions, we consider that the EU has at its disposal a powerful weapon that could bring the Iranian nuclear programme to a halt by peaceful means,” said MEPs Paulo Casaca (PES, Portugal), Charles Tannock and Geofrey Van Orden (both EPP-ED, United Kingdom) in a press release.
The conference picked up the theme of an open letter to the president of the European Council published in European Voice on 30 August. The letter was drafted by the three above-mentioned MEPs and by Frédérique Ries (ALDE, Belgium), Marek Siwiec (PES, Poland), Hannu Takkula (ALDE, Finland) and Janusz Wojciechowski (UEN, Poland), and signed by over 130 MEPs. It expressed concern at the risk posed by the Iranian nuclear programme, and recommended firmer action against Iran. It highlighted Iran's violations of both the United Nations Charter, by calling for the destruction of Israel, and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, by continuing to develop its uranium enrichment programme. “40% of all current Iranian imports are from the European Union,” the MEPs said, adding “We ask the EU and its member states to fully implement United Nations Security Council resolution 1747 … and encourage all European businesses to put an end to their economic activities in the Islamic Republic of Iran”.
At the conference, this position was backed by Frederic Encel, Professor of International relations at the Institut d'études politiques, Rennes, and Claude Moniquet, Director of the European Strategic Intelligence and Security Center (ESISC), Brussels. Prof. Encel said that Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt would enter the nuclear race if Iran was successful. Adopting a firmer approach towards Iran would not be a catastrophe, either diplomatically or economically. Apart from Armenia, Iran had no allies in the region who were likely to be annoyed by the stepping up of sanctions. On the economic level, an increase in oil prices would be tolerable and “we must have priorities”. After giving an overview of Iranian state bodies, Moniquet highlighted the activities of the Hezbollah group and he said: “The European Council has refused to add Hezbollah to its list of banned terrorist organisations, despite the fact that, on 10 March 2005, the European Parliament voted for such a move by 473 to 33”. Moniquet said he was concerned, however, that in the event of a military strike on Iran, there was the danger of reprisals targeted against European nuclear installations, “directly or through Hezbollah, or both”. (cd)