Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-02-15-Speech-3-027"
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"en.20060215.3.3-027"2
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".
Mr President, it is clear that Iran needs to take visible and credible steps back in order to regain the confidence of the international community. For the past few months the nuclear file has been at the centre of EU concerns with Iran, and rightly so. The region does not need further tension and prospects of nuclear escalation. Despite the persistent efforts for dialogue of the so-called EU-3 and of other international partners, Iran has not engaged in a convincing way. That is why, as a result of the vote of the International Atomic Energy Agency Board in Vienna on 4 February, Iran’s nuclear dossier is now to be reported to the United Nations Security Council.
The Commission looks forward to a continued exchange with Parliament regarding the matter of Iran. The situation is critical, but the long-term objective continues to be, despite everything, that deeper and broader relations should be established with a country that is an important regional and international player.
The Iranian reaction was the decision to step up its enrichment programme and to cease implementing the additional protocol. That is unacceptable news, although Iran expected to continue cooperating with the IAEA on the basis of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
A substantial majority of the international community, including Russia and China, now stand firmly behind the reporting of Iran to the Security Council, agreeing that Iran needs to return to a suspension of its enrichment activities. There must be no mistake in Tehran about the resolve of the international community. At the same time the door still remains open for a negotiated settlement through diplomatic efforts, provided that Iran takes the necessary steps.
Iran’s tactic of trying to divide the international community proved unsuccessful on this occasion, as it did last autumn. The Russian proposal to enrich uranium outside of Iran is still on the table and needs to be explored fully. If Iran returns to a suspension of its enrichment activities and accepts the Russian proposal, the Security Council track may not prove necessary. The prospects depend very much on the will of Tehran to compromise and engage with the international community, and to do so swiftly.
We shall not speculate on further steps, but if the situation continues to deteriorate, we will need to consider options for further action through the United Nations. The United Nations Security Council will revert to the issue in the light of Mr El Baradei’s report and the next meeting of the IAEA Board starting on 6 March. Conversely, if things evolve in the right direction, more could be done through Community actions. If and when the situation calls for that, we must be able to re-engage Iran through a series of EU and Community instruments. We are ready to engage constructively, and Iran knows that.
The nuclear issue is not a dispute between Iran and Europe or between Iran and the United States, but between Iran and the larger international community. Nor is it a dispute about Iran’s right under the Non-Proliferation Treaty. It is about Iran’s failure to build the necessary confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of its nuclear programme. Indeed, Iran has the right to develop research, production and the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. For that, without discrimination, we need objective guarantees on the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear programme.
I should like to say a few words about President Ahmadinejad’s statements on issues that affect regional stability and international relations. His unacceptable remarks regarding Israel and the Holocaust sparked global outrage. We feel that those statements are a profound offence to all of us. It is also totally unacceptable – as the Presidency has just said – that Iran continues to support terrorist organisations in the Middle East.
With regard to human rights, you may recall that on 12 December the General Affairs and External Relations Council found the situation grave enough to adopt conclusions on the state of EU-Iran human rights dialogue. Stating what is for me a fundamental requirement vis-à-vis Iran, the European Union reaffirmed that greater respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in Iran is essential if there is to be progress in EU-Iran relations.
I should like to emphasise some points of major concern. There have been an increasing number of public executions and death sentences – juvenile executions in particular. Iran executed more child offenders in 2005 than in any recent year. There are restrictions on freedom of expression, with widespread censorship of the internet and the press – even the former speaker of parliament and presidential candidate, Mr Karroubi, could not get authorisation to broadcast his new television channel from Dubai. On the plight of human rights defenders, we are very much concerned about the fate of prisoners of conscience, such as Mr Akbar Ganji and his lawyer Mr Abdolfattah Soltani. The list of human rights concerns in Iran remains worryingly long."@en1
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