SIX MAJOR POWERS CONSIDERING NEW SANCTIONS AGAINST IRAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
17.01.2010 18:30 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Six major powers began considering new sanctions
against Iran at talks in New York Saturday although no decision was
reached, a senior European Union official said.

"Consideration of appropriate further measures has begun," Robert
Cooper told reporters after the meeting which brought together senior
officials of Britain, France, Germany, Russia and the United States
and a lower-level diplomat from China.

Cooper spoke in his capacity as host and chair of the closed-door
meeting, a working luncheon, which was held at the EU mission in New
York and lasted a little over two hours.

"The group remains united, remains committed to the two-track approach
(sanctions while pursuing negotiations). That implies that we will
continue to seek a negotiation solution," the EU official said.

"But consideration of appropriate further measures (sanctions) has
also begun," he pointedly noted.

Earlier, Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov emerged from
the meeting, saying it was "inconclusive in the sense that we did
not make any decisions right away."

"We have started the next chapter of this saga, the next part of the
process. As I said Russia has always been fully committed to the dual
track approach," he added. "We have talked today about the second
track, but it does not mean that we should abandon the first one,
the engagement policy."

US Under Secretary of State William Burns would only say that the
six had a "useful discussion."

And his French counterpart Jacques Audibert stressed that "it was
not a meeting to make decisions," AFP reported.