Germany Hopes for an Alternative to Sanctions in Iran Stand-Off

A day after Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad shrugged off the threat of sanctions ahead of a looming UN deadline for Iran to halt sensitive atomic work, the international community voiced its concerns that Iran's hard-line stance could escalate the already volatile stand-off.

However, while sanctions remain a distinct possibility, Germany still believes an alternative solution can be found. The UN Security Council said Tuesday that no action would be taken against Iran until later in September if the Islamic republic fails to comply with the UN resolution. German Deputy Foreign Minister Gernot Erler stated that it was Germany's hope that sanctions could be avoided through negotiations between the Aug. 31 deadline and the end of September.

"I believe that the application for sanctions will not get the approval of Russia and China," Erler said in an interview with the Financial Times Deutschland. "The United States wants to speed up the sanctions process in the Security Council but we know what a constraint the refusal of Russia and China would be."

Erler urged Iran to engage in "substantial dialogue" even if the deadline passes without a solution.

Despite Erler's assertions, many countries have expressed fears that the Iranians are not prepared to move from the position voiced defiantly by Ahmadinejad on Tuesday and that sanctions are unavoidable.

A confident Ahmadinejad said that sanctions against his country were "unlikely" in a speech which also criticized the United States and Britain for using the UN Security Council for their own ends and reiterated the Iranian president's call for Israel to be "removed."

Iran was presented with a package of trade, technology and security incentives in exchange for a freeze of its uranium enrichment activities in June, but the Iranian president effectively rejected the offer, saying that Iran had made "exceptional" offers of its own which had been rejected. His statements increased the likelihood of sanctions being imposed, but the decision to do so is still very much a matter of intense discussion at the UN.

Council members split over sanctions

The prospect of sanctions, and possible military action, against Iran has led to cracks appearing in the Security Council members over how to progress in the crisis.

Russia and China, both major trading partners with Iran, have been unwilling to impose sanctions and could frustrate such a move in the Security Council, while the United States are the most vocal in advocating such measures, along with a less certain Britain.

"We've made it very clear that unless we get an unequivocal acceptance of that condition in the Security Council resolution, that sanctions would follow," US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton said on Tuesday evening.

Britain's UN Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry told reporters that he expected the UN Security Council members plus Germany (P5+1) would only respond to Iran after what he called a "further period of discussion among capitals."

The Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov only last week said talk of introducing sanctions against Iran was "premature." There was no response from the Russians to Ahmadinejad's speech on Tuesday.

Concerned Europeans keep dialogue open

Meanwhile the Europeans, including permanent council member France and Germany, are fearful that an escalation could lead to US military action against Iran's hard-line regime and have sought to leave the door open to dialogue while urging Tehran to comply with the UN demands.

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy warned in an interview Tuesday that divisions within the international community over Iran's nuclear program would hand a victory to Tehran.

The international community must not become divided, to cut itself in two," he said. "That would be a victory for the Iranians."

In his speech Tuesday, Ahmadinejad also called for a live televised debate with US President George W. Bush in which he hoped the two leaders could debate world problems.

US rejects presidential debate

The White House rejected outright the offer of a televised debate.

"Talk of a debate is just a diversion from the legitimate concerns that the international community, not just the US, has about Iran's behavior, from support to terrorism to pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability," a senior administration official said, speaking privately. "The Iranian regime knows what it has to do to engage constructively with the international community. We said we are willing to talk to Iran in the context of a positive response to the P5+1 package."