Jerusalem, February 08: In the wake of new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, Britain calls on Israel to mount international campaign to stop Iran’s nuclear activities by pursuing peace with the Palestinians.
“The United Kingdom is pushing for stronger sanctions to influence Iran, but the importance of the Middle East peace process should not be overlooked,” Reuters quoted British Defense Secretary Liam Fox as speaking at the Herzliya Conference, an annual Israeli security forum, on Sunday.
“Progress towards a two-state solution — a secure and universally recognized Israel alongside a viable and contiguous Palestinian state — is important for defusing the malign political influence of Iran in the region,” he added.
In addition to four sets of UN Security Council sanctions against Iran over its refusal to halt its civilian nuclear program, the United States imposes unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
Iran has described the sanctions as illegal, insisting that as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, it should benefit the right to use nuclear energy for peaceful applications.
Iranian officials have repeatedly refuted Western rhetorical allegations that Tehran is following a military nuclear program, slamming what they call the double standards adopted by the West, in particular Israel — the only player of the Middle East that possesses nuclear arsenal. Tehran says its nuclear program is aimed at producing electricity and medicines.
The Islamic Republic has initiated the idea of a Middle East free of nuclear arms. Iran has also insisted on a global elimination of nuclear weapons, a call ignored by major nuclear powers.
The British defense secretary said the prospect of Iran’s sometimes secretive uranium enrichment project could be a “disaster.”
“We want a negotiated solution. But Iran needs to change its approach fundamentally if we are to achieve that outcome … We will not look away, and we will not back down.”
“For sanctions to work, regional powers and neighbors need to make sure they are not used by Iran to help it avoid or water down the impact of economic sanctions,” Fox said.
“Those who allow Iran to avoid the effect of sanctions are themselves an obstacle to the peaceful resolution of the Iran problem,” he went on to say.
Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany (P5+1) held the latest round of multifaceted negotiations in the Turkish city of Istanbul on January 21-22.
Back in December 2010, Iran and the P5+1 – China, Russia, France, Britain and the US plus Germany — wrapped up two days of comprehensive talks in the Swiss city of Geneva.
——–Agencies