World powers will seek iron-clad guarantees from
Iran this week that its nuclear program is a peaceful one, European Union
foreign policy chief Javier Solana said Tuesday.
"My hope is that we will be able to get engaged, in order to get
guarantees from Teheran" at talks with Iran's nuclear envoy in Geneva
Thursday, said Solana, who is negotiating on behalf of the six-power group.
"For the moment we have not obtained the objective of guarantees that the
project is only peaceful," he said, on the sidelines of talks between E.U.
defense ministers in Gothenburg, southern Sweden.
"I don't think that will be an easy task. But we are going to continue
with our efforts."
Many in the West fear the Islamic republic is trying to covertly develop an
atomic bomb, and in recent days Tehran has heightened those fears by revealing
the existence of a new uranium enrichment plant and by testing missiles.
But Iran said Tuesday that it would soon offer a timetable for U.N. inspection
of its new enrichment plant and was ready to discuss world concerns about the
previously undisclosed facility.