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Iran resists call to halt nuclear work (Telegraph.co.uk, 6/1/06)

Major world powers have struck what a senior US official called a "substantial agreement" on incentives and penalties to encourage Iran to halt its nuclear programme.

The deal was reached at a meeting of foreign ministers from the US, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China, as well as Javier Solana, the EU's foreign policy chief, in Vienna.

No details of the package of measures will be released before it is put to Iran.

The agreement is seen as a significant development because China and Russia - both permanent members of the UN Security Council - had previously been reluctant to back the West's hard line against Iran.

Earlier in the day, Iran had rejected a US offer of face-to-face talks on the condition that it stops enriching uranium.

Po-Mo foreign policy is about appealing to the audience, not to the other actors.

Posted by David Cohen at June 1, 2006 7:31 PM