Europeans warn Iran not to resume nuclear work

France, Britain and Germany have warned Iran they will break off talks and join Washington in seeking UN Security Council action if Tehran makes good on its threats to resume atomic work, EU officials said yesterday.

The foreign ministers of the European Union's three biggest powers sent a strongly worded letter to Hassan Rohani, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, warning that resuming potentially arms-related nuclear work "would bring the negotiating process to an end", an EU diplomat quoted the letter as saying.

"The consequences could only be negative for Iran," it said.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair spelled out the potential consequences, telling reporters: "We certainly will support referral to the United Nations Security Council if Iran breaches its obligations and undertakings."

The United States believes Iran's nuclear energy programme is a front to develop atomic weapons and has been pressing for Iran's case to be sent to the 15-member UN council for possible economic sanctions and other actions.

"Iran needs to abide by its international obligations," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters. He said Tehran needed to refrain from enrichment as "an objective guarantee... that Iran is not developing nuclear weapons".

The EU shares US suspicions but has offered incentives to try to get Tehran to give up its atomic fuel programme, which Iran insists is only for nuclear power plants, not for arms.

The EU letter proposed "ministerial level talks" between the Iranians and Europeans within the next two weeks to break the impasse and avoid a crisis, EU diplomats said.

Iran refuses to give up uranium fuel production, which it says is its sovereign right. Tired with the slow pace of talks, Tehran has informed the EU that time is running out and it will soon resume parts of its uranium enrichment programme.

The new EU warning may have had an immediate effect. Officials close to the issue said Tehran might give talks with the EU one last chance rather than go ahead with plans to break UN seals and restart part of its nuclear fuel programme.

Only hours earlier, a diplomat close to the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) told Reuters the UN agency was expecting a letter from Iran saying Tehran would restart part of its nuclear fuel programme.

Tehran's chief delegate to the IAEA, Sirus Naseri, arrived in Vienna on Wednesday with a letter for IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei, but he may not deliver it, diplomats said.

One official said the Iranians had held meetings with the Europeans in recent days, fostering new hope for negotiations that began in November after Tehran agreed to suspend all activities linked to the enrichment of uranium.

But Mr Rohani said Tehran would no longer feel bound by the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if it was denied the right to pursue a full civilian nuclear energy programme.

"If Iran cannot use its legitimate rights in the framework of the NPT, it will no longer have respect for the treaty," the semi-official ISNA students news agency cited Mr Rohani as saying.

A senior diplomat close to the IAEA said he was convinced Iran would not resume any enrichment activities until well after the country's June 17 presidential election.

It is no accident the latest crisis in the EU-Iran talks comes a month before the election, European diplomats said.