France sets Dec deadline for Iran sanctions

Delegates face each other across the table at the opening of talks between Iran and six world powers to discuss the Islamic republic's disputed atomic programme yesterday at a villa in Genthod, near Geneva. Photo: AFP

World powers must slap new sanctions on Iran if Tehran fails to clear up suspicions about its nuclear programme by December, French Defence Minister Herve Morin said in an interview Thursday.
"If Iran does not respond to the demands of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) by December, the international community must decide on sanctions," Mortin told Le Figaro newspaper.
"France is determined on this point. There is no other approach."
President Nicolas Sarkozy last week also said world powers must set a December deadline for Iran to meet demands and dispel fears that it may be building a nuclear bomb.
"Iran is in total contradiction with its international commitments and every day shows that it is pursuing its nuclear military programme," he added.
France is among the six powers sitting down with Iran in Geneva on Thursday to try to press Tehran to come clean on its disputed nuclear programme.
The talks attended by Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States come one week after the disclosure of a second Iranian uranium enrichment plant.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner however cautioned that sanctions were a final recourse and said dialogue with Iran must be given a chance.
"I am not a fanatic of sanctions against the people (of Iran). Sometimes they are useful but we are not talking about the sanctions in Geneva so far," Kouchner told a Russian radio station during a visit to Moscow.