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Disarmament DocumentationBack to Disarmament Documentation E3-EU/Iran meeting, Statement by French Minister of Foreign Affairs Michel Barnier, May 25, 2005'E3-UE/IRAN MINISTERIAL MEETING Q. - Why this meeting? THE MINISTER - It's absolutely normal for the three ministers who are in the vanguard of this negotiation to meet again, with Javier Solana. And we're working with the international community. We hadn't met Dr Rohani since the Brussels meeting. There's no need to overdramatize things. We have to take stock from time to time, which explains this meeting. Q. - What did you say to each other? THE MINISTER - We talked today in the spirit of the Paris agreement of 15 November - you can refer to that agreement - every aspect of it, its letter and spirit. We're continuing to work and, before the end of July, we're going to make some concrete proposals, particularly on the important matter of the establishment in Iran of a civilian nuclear programme for the exclusively civilian purposes of producing nuclear electricity - but not just on that. We need a bit more time, and during this time we shall go on working in accordance with the Paris Agreement. Q. - Did you discuss the conversion problem? THE MINISTER - We are working in line with the letter and spirit of the Paris Agreement which doesn't allow the resumption of any conversion activity whatsoever. For the past year we've been working on the extremely sensitive subject of non-proliferation. We want to be sure there will be no nuclear activities other than civilian ones. With this great country, which has an important place and role in the region - and must fulfil it -, when we have this certainty, and we haven't yet got it, we want to have a broader discussion which, as you know, will in the coming days focus on the WTO, technological and industrial cooperation and the political dialogue. Source: France Ministry for Foreign Affairs, http://www.diplomatie.fr. © 2005 The Acronym Institute. |