Telegraph, 9 Nov 2011 – Iran came under mounting diplomatic pressure on Wednesday following a UN report that it may be trying to develop nuclear weapons, with Britain and France issuing a joint statement calling for new and strong sanctions.
Alain Juppe, the French foreign minister, said UN sanctions on ‘an unprecedented scale’ were appropriate and called for a swift meeting of the UN Security Council, which has already imposed four sets of sanctions on Iran.
William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, said the dispute with Iran was ‘entering a dangerous phase’.
‘The longer Iran goes on pursuing a nuclear weapons programme without responding adequately to calls for negotiations from the rest of us, the greater the risk of a conflict as a result,’ he said.
The Government will shortly reveal additional unilateral sanctions against the Iranian financial sector, the oil and gas sector, and ‘entities and individuals involved with their nuclear programme’, he told Parliament.
The US said it is looking at ways to put ‘additional pressure’ on Tehran.
Iran vowed it ‘will not budge an iota’ from its nuclear path and Ali Ashgar Soltanieh, Iran’s envoy to the IAEA, said Iran would retaliate by suspending access to parts of its nuclear facility that it regards as voluntary.