Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 12. / Trend E.Ostapenko /
The effective "stick and carrot" policy towards Iran may reduce the need for new sanctions, Member of the European Parliament Delegation for relations with Iran Alexander Alvaro said.
"The developments of the last weeks have shown that the combination of the "hand of friendship policy" and the threat of new sanctions have had an actual impact. The current seemingly positive developments have lowered the immediate necessity of new sanctions [towards Iran]," Alvaro wrote to Trend via e-mail.
On Oct.1, Geneva hosted a new round of talks between the delegations of Iran and five permanent members of the UN and Germany ("5 +1"). The parties agreed that Iran will allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency to enter the plant for uranium enrichment in Qum. Iran agreed that around 1.2 metric tons of uranium enriched to a level of around 3.5 percent would be shipped to Russia and enriched further to a purity level of 19.75 percent. Once enriched further in Russia, the uranium would be sent to France, where it would be placed into fuel assemblies so that it could be used in the reactor in Iran. It was also agreed to hold a new round of negotiations by late October.
"Sanctions are often counterproductive as they hit the innocent civil society the hardest," Alvaro said, hailing the fact that the representatives of Iran and "5+1" countries again gathered around the table.
The Western officials have repeatedly warned that if an agreement to freeze Iran's uranium enrichment program is not reached before the end of 2009, the country may face new sanctions.
Iran insists on that its nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes and aimed at ensuring the country's electricity. Tehran has ignored five resolutions of the UN Security Council demanding to end all nuclear development.
Alvaro expressed hope that the current positive trends in the negotiations are not related to Iran's efforts to delay further sanctions.
Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at [email protected]