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| Two Iranian protesters
install a model nuclear weapon outside the Foreign and Commonwealth office
in London, United Kingdom Jan.16, 2006. (Xinhua
Photo) | LONDON,
Jan. 16 (Xinhuanet) -- Officials from the United States, Britain, France,
Germany, China and Russia gather in London on Monday for closed-door talks on
Iran's resumption of nuclear activities.
Senior diplomats from the U.S., Russia and China will
join representatives from Britain, France and Germany for the meeting. They will
meet behind closed doors at the Foreign Office in Whitehall.
A British Foreign Office spokesman told Xinhua this
is a "confidential diplomatic meeting" on Iran. He refused to give further
details.
Tensions mounted last week after Iran resumed nuclear
fuel research. But Tehran defended that it would not go as far as making
weapons.
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| A woman simulates a
public hanging among the protestors outside the Foreign and Commonwealth
office in London, United Kingdom Jan.16, 2006. (Xinhua Photo)
| Britain, France and Germany
have already started the moves to refer Iran to the United Nations Security
Council for possible sanctions over Tehran's decision. They said that
two-and-a-half years of efforts to resolve the issue had come to a "dead end."
European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana
has insisted that the use of military action against Iran is currently"not in
the mind of anyone."
On Sunday, Iran warned of soaring oil prices if
sanctions were introduced.
For more than two years, Britain, France and Germany,
with support from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), have been
engaged in lengthy negotiations with Iran aimed at obtaining guarantees that it
does not seek to develop nuclear weapons using the nuclear energy program as a
cover.
The U.S. accuses Iran of running a covert nuclear
arms program.Iran, however, has repeatedly said that its nuclear work is purely
designed to meet its energy needs and insisted on the right to develop a full
nuclear fuel cycle. Enditem |