Major world powers are expected to begin discussing an Iran sanctions resolution at a meeting in Europe next week if Tehran continues to defy a U.N. Security Council demand to suspend uranium enrichment, the U.S. State Department said Wednesday. One day before the U.N. deadline, department spokesman Sean McCormack said the expectation is that Iran will not comply with U.N. demands. Therefore, U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns and top officials from Britain, France, China, Russia, and Germany will meet early next week. Burns is going to be traveling to Europe, I believe, next week, early next week. That would probably be the first convocation of that group of major powers looking at specific language for a resolution, McCormack told reporters without providing a date or location for the meeting. Senior U.S. officials have acknowledged that it could take time to negotiate the resolution, which McCormack said must send a substantial signal to Tehran by imposing sanctions as promised last June. The United States contends that the major powers are united on Iran, but China and Russia oppose sanctions. However, even after discussions on a resolution begin, Iran could still choose to end its enrichment activities and begin broader negotiations on a package of Western incentives, McCormack said. A U.N. nuclear monitoring report Thursday is expected to conclude that Tehran has ignored a deadline to freeze an atomic fuel program Western leaders say could lead to weapons.
