BERLIN, Jan 14: A military strike against Iran for its refusal to halt nuclear research is ruled out, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said in an interview to be published on Sunday.

“Military action against Iran is out of the question,” he told the German weekly Bild am Sonntag, adding that the decision by European powers to take the matter to the UN Security Council did not mean the end of negotiations with Tehran.

Solana called on Iran to prove that its nuclear programme was purely peaceful, as it asserts, and not designed to develop atomic weaponry as Western powers headed by the United States suspect.

“For the moment we are trying to reach a diplomatic solution, he said, adding, “we should not indulge in speculation on possible sanctions which at the moment are not part of the debate.”

Britain, France and Germany took the first step on Thursday toward moving the issue before the Security Council, calling for a meeting of the UN’s nuclear watchdog as the diplomatic standoff between Tehran and the West escalated.

US President George W. Bush said after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel

in Washington on Friday

that the crisis should be referred to the council because letting Iran have a nuclear weapon was “unacceptable” and would pose a threat to the world.—AFP