EU fails to start trade talks with Iran

The EU and Iran on Monday failed to resume trade talks due to ongoing concerns about Tehran’s nuclear ambitions and its human rights record.

European top officials told Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi on a visit to Brussels that the regime must also push through political reform and stop supporting terrorists.

Negotiations on a trade deal between the EU and Tehran stalled last June over growing tension with the international community about Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

An accord brokered by France, Germany and the UK with Iran in December, where Tehran agreed to open up its facilities to international inspections, diffused sharp tension with Washington over the issue.

But trade relations, which would be mutually beneficial to Europeans and Iranians, have remained on the back-burner while the EU weighs up Iran’s commitment to sticking to its promises.

Iran has been criticised recently for its subsequent cover-up of nuclear facilities and allegations that it is continuing to enrich uranium.

Kharrazi’s diplomatic offensive in Brussels met with a tough response from EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and EU external relations commissioner Chris Patten.

Although the EU’s policy of constructive engagement with Tehran has contrasted with Washington’s hardline attitude, EU leaders have been disappointed in particular at the banning of reformist candidates in the
February elections.

German foreign minister Joschka Fischer is expected to repeat the EU’s firm line when he meets with Kharrazi this week in Berlin.

The UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, will give its verdict on Iran’s compliance with inspections on June 14.

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