AUSTRIA: Israeli defence minister pushes for 'tough' diplomacy with Iran over nuclear programme

Record ID: 313682

  • Title: AUSTRIA: Israeli defence minister pushes for 'tough' diplomacy with Iran over nuclear programme
  • Date: 15th December 2009
  • Summary: VIENNA, AUSTRIA (DECEMBER 14, 2009) (REUTERS) (CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY) ISRAELI DEFENCE MINISTER EHUD BARAK AND AUSTRIAN DEFENCE MINISTER NORBERT DARABOS WALKING TOWARDS PODIUM JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) ISRAELI DEFENCE MINISTER EHUD BARAK SAYING: "We still believe it's time for diplomacy, probably tough diplomacy, there is a need for tough sanctions, preferably based on chapter 7 of the charter, but clearly something which is well and coherently coordinated to include at least the Americans, the EU, the Chinese, the Russians, the Indians. Short of this it won't be easy. There should be a time limit for all these attempts to block them through sanctions. We keep telling the truth, we recommend to all players not to remove any option from the table, we do not remove (the options), we think that's the right way to approach it, but I want to re-emphasize it's still time for diplomacy but it should be decisive, conclusive, tough, sanctions-led diplomacy." BARAK AND DARABOS AT PODIUM CAMERAMAN (SOUNDBITE) (English) ISRAELI DEFENCE MINISTER EHUD BARAK SAYING: "The wider the front Iranians see in front of them facing them politically, to represent the will of the world that they will stop enriching uranium and stop their move toward the military nuclear capacity, it's the better. So there is clearly a role for the EU in all these aspects." BARAK AND DARABOS SHAKING HANDS / WALKING AWAY FROM PODIUM / BARAK STOPPING TO TALK TO A REPORTER / BARAK WALKING OUT OF ROOM ACCOMPANIED BY SECURITY GUARD
  • Embargoed: 30th December 2009 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Austria
  • Country: Austria
  • Reuters ID: LVA27X8QM5TL4NYXJKPO3X0QXHPT
  • Story Text: Israeli defence minister Ehud Barak told a news conference in Vienna on Monday (December 14) that there was still time for diplomacy to persuade Iran to stop its nuclear defiance.
    But he warned it would have to be "tough diplomacy" reinforced by "tough" sanctions.
    Barak said such measures would have to be coherently coordinated with the Americans, the European Union, the Chinese, Russians and Indians.
    "Short of this," he said, "it won't be easy."
    He urged the EU to take a more active role in negotiations on Iran's nuclear programme.
    "The wider the front Iranians see in front of them facing them politically, to represent the will of the world that they will stop enriching uranium and stop their move toward the military nuclear capacity, it's the better," he said.
    Iran last month turned down an IAEA brokered deal to ship its low-enriched uranium (LEU), a potential source of atom bomb fuel, in exchange for a nuclear medicine reactor in Tehran which further raised Western suspicions that it is developing enrichment for weapons rather than electricity as it says.
    Two weeks ago, Iran announced plans to build 10 new enrichment plants, a gesture of defiance after a November 27 IAEA governors' resolution rebuking it for having hid a second enrichment site and demanding it stop construction immediately.
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