Germany, France talk of more Iran sanctions
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy warn of harsher sanctions against Iran.
Germany and France have warned Iran of tougher sanctions should the country refuse to bring its uranium enrichment activities to a halt.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday that Berlin hopes US President Barack Obama’s offer to hold direct talks with Tehran would help resolve Iran’s nuclear case.
"I think the new US administration will make its approach towards Iran clear to us in coming months," Merkel said at the annual Munich Security Conference.
"We are ready to walk this path together. But we also need to be ready for tougher sanctions if there is no progress," she added.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said at the same conference that there remains no option but to tighten sanctions against Iran if it does not meet Western demands to stop enriching uranium.
He called on Russia to act as a mediator between world powers and Iran, saying, “It’s up to Russia to demonstrate what face it wants to show the world. If it wants peace, it should show it. If it wants to be a major world player, then it should help us resolve the crisis with Iran."
At the annual meeting of leaders and defense experts in Munich, US Vice President Joe Biden outlined the foreign policy priorities of the Obama administration.
The United States and its allies accuse Iran of pursuing a military nuclear program, saying that the country has enough enriched material "for a bomb."
The UN nuclear watchdog, however, has confirmed in its November and latest report that Iran has only managed to enrich uranium-235 to a level "less than 5 percent" -- a rate consistent with the development of a nuclear power plant. Nuclear arms production requires an enrichment level of above 90 percent.
Western powers have offered Iran political and economic incentives to convince the country to halt its uranium enrichment program.
This is while the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) -- to which Tehran is a signatory -- grants Iran the right to enrich uranium for civilian purposes.
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