'Iran will face sanctions'

2006-12-06 23:48

Paris - The powers making up the UN security council were agreed that "there will be sanctions" against Iran, though their extent was yet to be decided, France said on Wednesday after a Paris meeting on Tehran's nuclear programme.

"There is a question as to the extent of the sanctions, but there will be sanctions," foreign minister Philippe Douste-Blazy told RTL radio.

He said the five permanent UN security council members plus Germany "agree on one thing: that there will be a United Nations security council resolution backed by all, including China and Russia".

Political directors from Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States met in the French capital late on Wednesday to talk about what action to take against Iran, which defied a UN deadline of August 31 to cease enriching uranium.

Several of the countries, especially the United States, fear that despite Iran's insistence that it is pursuing civilian nuclear energy ambitions, the programme is in fact designed to build a nuclear arsenal.

Diplomats said the Paris meeting failed to reach agreement among the six countries on what sanctions should be applied.

- AFP