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UN, EU to discuss Iran nuclear file in London, Brussels

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LONDON/TEHRAN, January 30 (RIA Novosti) - Representatives of the world's most influential countries will meet in two European capitals Monday to discuss the escalating situation around Iran's nuclear research programs.

The foreign ministers of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany will meet in London Monday to discuss the Iranian nuclear program, the British Foreign Office said.

The ministers from Russia, the United Kingdom, France, the United States, China and Germany will set out their positions on the Iranian issue prior to an extraordinary session of the 35-member board of governors of the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The session will take place in Vienna February 2-3 to discuss referring the Iranian "nuclear file" to the UN Security Council, which has the power to impose sanctions if Tehran is found to be in breach of its international commitments. Tensions around Iran escalated after it abandoned a two-year moratorium on research into uranium enrichment January 10. Some members of the international community, led by the U.S., fear that Tehran could use the technology to produce weapons-grade material, as well as nuclear reactor fuel.

Meanwhile, Brussels will also host eleventh-hour talks between Tehran, at its request, and the trio of European nations handling the situation for the EU - Britain, Germany and France - on Monday.

After being initially broken off in summer 2005 when Tehran resumed partial research at its Isfahan nuclear center, the negotiations resumed in December 2005, but appeared to reach the point of no return after Iran ended its moratorium. The EU countries then said the process had reached a "dead end" and called for the IAEA to hold the emergency session, which is expected to set a date for referring the matter to the UN. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice supported the move, condemning the Islamic Republic's decision to restart enrichment research. "The provocative actions by the Iranian regime have shattered the basis for negotiation," she said then.

Russia, which is building an $800-million nuclear power plant in southwest Iran, has offered to enrich uranium on its territory for Iran, a move generally seen as a potential compromise in the growing crisis. Tehran's top negotiator, Ali Larijani gave a cautious welcome to the offer during a visit to Moscow January 24, saying that details of the proposed plant still had to be worked out. However, he said his country took a "positive" view on the idea, which will be discussed in more detail when an Iranian delegation arrives in the Russian capital February 13.

Larjani also said Iran was honoring its commitments under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and added that withdrawing from its protocol would be a last resort for the Islamic Republic.

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