Diplomats set for key Iran talks

Iran is expanding uranium enrichment, the IAEA says

Top diplomats from six key nations are meeting in London to discuss further moves to make Iran comply with demands to end its nuclear programme. The talks come after the UN nuclear watchdog confirmed Iran had ignored a deadline to suspend nuclear activities.

The five permanent UN Security Council members and Germany will seek consensus on how to put more pressure on Tehran.

But on Sunday President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran would not go back on its nuclear programme.

The country’s nuclear development was “a train on a one-way track with no room for stopping, reverse gear or braking,” Mr Ahmadinejad said.

Iran denies Western claims it is secretly trying to build nuclear arms, saying its nuclear programme is for peaceful, energy-producing purposes.

Travel ban

Monday’s meeting of diplomats from the US, Russia, China, France, the UK plus Germany will discuss how to make Iran meet UN demands to halt its nuclear enrichment activities.

POSSIBLE NEXT STEPS New UN resolution on tougher economic sanctions, tabled by US or European allies US pressure on Europeans to step up bilateral sanctions New initiative to get Iran back to talks Q&A: Iran and the nuclear issue

The Security Council imposed sanctions on Iran in December, setting a 60-day deadline for it to stop enriching uranium.

But a report last week by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that Iran was instead expanding its enrichment programme.

Enriched uranium is used as fuel for nuclear reactors, but highly-enriched uranium can be used to make nuclear bombs.

The delegates will discuss new steps that could be taken to force Iran into line.

These, says the BBC’s Jonathan Marcus, could include travel bans on named individuals associated with Iran’s nuclear and missile programmes.

The US is also eager to discuss ways in which bilateral pressure can be applied on Tehran, with issues such as European export credits for business with Iran and arms sales from Russia on the agenda.

But, our correspondent says, the meeting is only the first step in what looks set to be an incremental process aimed at getting the Iranians back to the negotiating table.

On Sunday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the US would hold direct talks with Iran if it suspended uranium enrichment.

Her comments came a day after Vice-President Dick Cheney renewed a warning that the use of force could be an option if Iran continued to defy the West.