The United States needs an answer from Iran on the issue of uranium enrichment by the end of this week, a senior U.S. official has told the Washington Times newspaper. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, who leads the Bush administration s diplomatic efforts on Iran, told the newspaper that the United States will give European negotiators just a few more days to convince to suspend its uranium enrichment program. A final round of talks is scheduled this week between European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Iranian negotiator Ali Larijani. Burns, referring to the upcoming talks, said the latest discussions should bring clarity. If Iran s response is maybe, it s a no, Burns said. If it s We d like to negotiate this further, it has been negotiated for four months. At some point, you have to draw the line. So I think you ll have the answer by the end of the week. The five permanent UN Security Council members and Germany are said to be working to set a new deadline this week for Iran, as well as a list of sanctions to be included in a new UN resolution if and when the six agree that negotiations have failed. The newspaper said Burns has nearly obtained agreement on the sanctions list, although Burns acknowledged it could still take time to settle on the actual wording of a new resolution. China and Russia have both voiced strong opposition to using sanctions against Iran, though Burns insisted in the interview that there was unity among the six on the issue.
