BRUSSELS: Europe has taken a first step to rein in Iran's nuclear ambitions, but only engagement by the United States may dissuade Tehran in the long term from seeking atomic weapons, if anything can, diplomats say.
Britain, France, Germany and European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana jointly persuaded Iran to suspend its drive to enrich uranium, a process which produces fuel that can be used for power generation or bombs.
In return, the Iranians escaped being reported to the UN Security Council for concealing past nuclear programmes, as the United States had sought to do.
Under a deal unveiled on Monday, Tehran agreed to freeze all activity related to enrichment, including making equipment and processing materials, in return for talks on peaceful nuclear cooperation and resumed negotiations on a trade and aid pact.
EU diplomats were careful to stress this was just a first, temporary stage pending a longer-term agreement.
"I would like to qualify the term success ... Don't think that the story has finished yet," a senior European diplomat said.
Without naming Washington, Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot contrasted the EU's approach of engaging Iran with the US policy of isolating and punishing the Islamic republic.
"We believe very much that negotiations with Iran is the way to final solutions for a number of problems: the nuclear issue, the human rights situation, their Middle East position, terrorism aspects," said Bot, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency.
"If you cut off all dialogue you isolate the country even more. Finding a solution to this particular issue (the nuclear one) could have an impact on the other three elements in our dialogue," he told the Foreign Press Association in The Hague.
The Bush administration was fully aware of and briefed on the European initiative and did not oppose it.
An EU diplomat said the Europeans sought to move forward with the "advice and consent" of the United States, which was an important factor although it was not a party to the agreement.
BUSH ENDORSED: US President George W. Bush gave it a guarded endorsement when he met British Prime Minister Tony Blair last Friday.
"We don't want Iran to have a nuclear weapon and we're working toward that end," he said. "And the truth of the matter is the prime minister gets a lot of credit for working with France and Germany to convince the Iranians to get rid of the processes that would enable them to develop a nuclear weapon."
But Washington has shown no sign of willingness to overcome 25 years of hostility with the Islamic republic, dating back to the 1979 hostage siege at the US embassy in Tehran, and open a dialogue of its own with Iran.
Influential neo-conservatives such as former Defence Policy Advisory Board chairman Richard Perle advocate "regime change" in Tehran. Others have talked of the possibility of US military strikes against Iranian nuclear plants.
With the imminent departure of Secretary of State Colin Powell, the US cabinet member seen as most sympathetic to European views, an opening towards Tehran seems remote.
The senior European diplomat involved in the negotiations said Iran and the three EU states had agreed to set up working groups on security, nuclear issues and economic and technology cooperation to prepare a long-term agreement.
Those groups are due to report back within three months of a first steering group session in the first half of December.
Meanwhile, the EU will resume stalled talks on a trade and cooperation agreement and back Tehran's bid to join the World Trade Organization.
But EU officials say only Washington's involvement can give Iran the kind of security assurances, economic benefits and recognition which might make its rulers feel they did not need a nuclear capability.
EU officials are duly cautious about the prospect of Iran's compliance with the accord.
"After the agreement is verified, we will be partially reassured," the senior diplomat said when asked if the EU was now convinced Iran's nuclear programme was purely peaceful.
He noted the new text was largely a more detailed version of a deal the EU3 and Iran reached last year but which was so vaguely drafted that it did not prevent Tehran pressing ahead with enrichment-related activities such as building centrifuges and processing raw uranium.-Reuters
