EU-Iranian talks break up without compromise on enrichment freeze

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
EU-Iranian talks broke up Friday without compromise on Teheran's refusal to freeze uranium enrichment, and the top European Union foreign policy envoy said he was disappointed at Teheran's refusal to budge on the issue. "I expected more and therefore I am disappointed," EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana told reporters after a five-hour meeting with the Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili. The failure of the meeting was likely to increase pressure for new UN Security Council sanctions, with the five permanent council members set to discuss such actions Saturday. Just minutes before Solana spoke, Jalili had sent a different message, describing his meeting as "good" and saying the two men had arranged to meet again next month. Before the talks between Solana and Jalili, senior European officials said that nothing short of an Iranian pledge to seriously consider freezing its enrichment program would defuse a push by the US and its allies for new sanctions. While not going into specifics, Solana's statement made clear the Iranians had not budged on their refusal to do so.