A U.S.-Europe Statement on Iran On February 17, 2005,…

               A U.S.-Europe Statement on Iran

On February 17, 2005, a group of prominent European and American foreign policy
experts issued the "Compact between the United States and Europe," a detailed and
comprehensive proposal for transatlantic cooperation on the key foreign policy issues of
the day. The premise of the Compact was that the split that had emerged between the
two sides of the Atlantic in recent years was deeply damaging to the interests of both
sides, and that specific agreements on common policy challenges was both necessary
and possible. We remain convinced that the partnership between the United States and
Europe is critical to world security and stability and that the toughest problems we face
are better dealt with when the United States and Europe stand together.

In that light, all of us were deeply disappointed by Iran's rejection of the August 2005
offer by Britain, France, and Germany to provide Iran with support for a civilian nuclear
energy program--as well as far-reaching political and economic incentives--in
exchange for Tehran's agreement not to develop its capacity for nuclear enrichment and
reprocessing. The EU-3 proposal, which had explicit support from the United States,
would have made it possible for Iran to acquire Western nuclear reactors and fuel for the
civilian nuclear energy program Iran claims to need. Yet Iran rejected it out of hand,
removed International Atomic Energy Agency seals at its nuclear facility in Isfahan, and
resumed the process of uranium conversion.

As European and American leaders have said many times, an Iranian nuclear weapons
capability would be dangerous and destabilizing. It could lead to further nuclear
proliferation (in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey for example); it could provide cover
for Tehran to pursue a more aggressive foreign policy (including through support for
terrorism or armed intervention in neighboring countries); and it could be a fatal blow to
the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). Given Iran's past track record of hiding
significant aspects of its nuclear program, moreover, allowing Iran to develop
enrichment and reprocessing capabilities--even under an international inspection
regime--would be extremely risky. Doing so would leave Iran one short step away
from a nuclear weapons capability--with which it could easily proceed, once the full
fuel cycle was in hand, by withdrawing from the NPT and asking inspectors to leave.

The credibility of western nonproliferation policy is now clearly on the line. The
European Union and the United States have a strong common interest in bringing Iran
back to the negotiating table and persuading it to change course. The best way to do that
is to make clear to Iran that it can win significant political and economic benefits if it
foregoes a nuclear weapons program, but that it will pay a very big political and
economic price if it does not. Such an effort will only work if America and Europe
stand united.

Therefore, the United States and the European Union should endorse the following:
·   The United States and European Union reaffirm their determination to
    prevent nuclear proliferation and their insistence that Iran abide by its
    obligations under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, including by
    providing full information about its past and present nuclear program. They
    regret Iran's August 2005 decision to resume its nuclear conversion
    activities and call upon Iran to suspend such activities and to send overseas
    all materials produced since the breaking of seals at Isfahan as a basis for
    resuming nuclear discussions with the EU-3. The U.S. and EU insist that
    only a permanent and verifiable end to Iran's nuclear fuel cycle (enrichment
    and reprocessing) program can provide an objective guarantee that Iran is
    not working toward a nuclear weapons option.

·   The United States reiterates its support for the European Union's nuclear
    dialogue with Iran. If Iran permanently and verifiably ends its fuel cycle
    programs, the United States would support Iran's right to import technology
    for a civilian nuclear energy program (including the provision of fuel and
    fuel-cycle services on a commercial basis); not impose sanctions against
    European companies that engage in civilian trade and investment with Iran;
    and enter into a dialogue with the Iranian government on regional security
    issues. The United States reiterates its intention to deal with the Iranian
    nuclear issue through diplomatic means while leaving all options open if
    diplomatic efforts fail.

·   The United States declares its willingness to explore directly with Iran other
    areas of concern. These include the issue of bilateral diplomatic and
    economic relations; U.S. economic sanctions against Iran; Iranian support
    for terrorist groups such as Hizbollah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad; Iran's
    opposition to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process; Iran's membership in the
    World Trade Organization; and financial disputes dating back to the Iranian
    revolution. The United States and European Union will continue to support
    the efforts of the Iranian people to secure basic human rights and to build a
    functioning democracy in Iran.

·   The European Union countries reiterate their willingness to provide Iran
    with support for a civilian nuclear energy program and offer far-reaching
    political and economic incentives in exchange for Tehran's agreement not to
    develop its capacity for nuclear enrichment and reprocessing. At the same
    time, they declare their readiness to impose meaningful penalties on Iran if it
    refuses to end its fuel cycle programs or withdraws from the NPT. If Iran
    refuses to reestablish the full suspension of all enrichment related activities
    and to send overseas the materials produced at Isfahan since August 1, EU
    leaders will support taking the issue to the United Nations Security Council
    and support a mandatory resolution requiring Iran to do so. If Iran refuses
    to comply with this resolution, the EU countries will support a UNSC
    resolution imposing economic and diplomatic sanctions on Iran, including a
    ban on new foreign investment in Iran's energy sector. The EU countries
will seek consensus at the Security Council, but Russian or Chinese
opposition would not prevent them from imposing sanctions on their own,
together with the United States and Japan, if Iran refuses to end its fuel cycle
program and live up to its NPT obligations. The EU will consider additional
steps should Iran proceed with nuclear enrichment, withdraw from the IAEA
Additional Protocol, or withdraw from the NPT.
                  SIGNATORIES (UNITED STATES)
Affiliations are for purpose of identification only.

Ronald Asmus, Executive Director, Transatlantic              Michael O'Hanlon, Senior Fellow, The Brookings
Center, German Marshall Fund of the United States            Institution

Samuel R. Berger, Chairman, Stonebridge International;       William J. Perry, former Secretary of Defense under
former National Security Adviser to President Bill Clinton   President Bill Clinton

Richard Burt, Chairman, Diligence LLC; former U.S.           Thomas Pickering, former Undersecretary of State for
Ambassador to Germany under President Ronald Reagan          Political Affairs

Ivo H. Daalder, Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution     Susan Rice, Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution

Francis Fukuyama, Professor of International Political       Gary Samore, former Senior Director for Non-
Economy, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International      Proliferation and Export Controls at the National
Studies Johns Hopkins University                             Security Council

Leslie Gelb, President Emeritus, Council on Foreign          David Sandalow, Senior Fellow, The Brookings
Relations                                                    Institution

Robert Gelbard, Chairman, Washington Global                  Simon Serfaty, Zbigniew Brzezinski Chair, Center for
Partners former Special Envoy to the Balkans and             Strategic and International Studies
Ambassador to Indonesia
                                                             Jeremy Shapiro, Director of Research, Center on the
John Gibson, former NSC Senior Director for Foreign          United States and Europe, The Brookings Institution
Policy Speechwriting in the George W. Bush
Administration                                               Anne-Marie Slaughter, Dean, Woodrow Wilson School
                                                             of Public Affairs, Princeton University
Philip H. Gordon, Director of the Center on the United
States and Europe and Senior Fellow, The Brookings           James B. Steinberg, Vice-President and Director of
Institution                                                  Foreign Policy Studies, The Brookings Institution; former
                                                             Deputy National Security Adviser to President Bill
Robert Hutchings, Professor, Princeton University;           Clinton
former Chairman, National Intelligence Council under
George W. Bush                                               Strobe Talbott, President, The Brookings Institution,
                                                             former Deputy Secretary of State under President Bill
G. John Ikenberry, Albert G. Milbank Professor of            Clinton
Politics and International Affairs, Princeton University

Robert Kagan, Senior Associate, Carnegie Endowment
for International Peace and Transatlantic Fellow,
German Marshall Fund

Anthony Lake, Georgetown University; former National
Security Adviser to President Bill Clinton

Andrew Moravcsik, Professor of Politics, Princeton
University

Joseph S. Nye, Jr. Dean, John F. Kennedy School of
Government, Harvard University
                               SIGNATORIES (EUROPE)
Affiliations are for purpose of identification only.


Urban Ahlin, Chairman of Foreign Relations Committee,    Mark Leonard, Director of Foreign Policy, Centre For
Swedish Parliament                                       European Reform, London

Giuliano Amato, former Italian Prime Minister            Kalypso Nicolaidis, University Lecturer in International
                                                         Relations, University of Oxford
Gerassimos Arsenis, former Greek Defense Minister
                                                         Soli Özel, Professor of International Relations, Bilgi
Jean-Claude Casanova, editor, Commentaire, Paris         University, Istanbul; Columnist, Sabah

Marta Dassú, Director General, International Programs,   Ana Palacio, former Spanish Foreign Minister
Aspen Italia, Rome
                                                         George Robertson, former NATO Secretary General and
Thérèse Delpech, Senior Research Fellow, Center for      British Defense Secretary
International Studies and Research; former UNMOVIC
Commissioner                                             Narcís Serra, President, CIDOB Foundation, Madrid;
                                                         former Minister of Defense of Spain
Lawrence Freedman, Professor of War Studies, King's
College, London                                          Stefano Silvestri, President, Institute of International
                                                         Affairs, Rome
Nicole Gnesotto, Director, EU Institute for Security
Studies, Paris                                           Antonio Vitorino, former Portuguese Minister of
                                                         Defense and European Commissioner for Justice and
Charles Grant, Director, Centre For European Reform,     Home Affairs
London
                                                         Joris Vos, former Dutch Ambassador to the United States
Ulrike Guérot, Senior Transatlantic Fellow, German
Marshall Fund of the United States

David Hannay, former British Ambassador to the United
Nations and the European Union

Douglas Hurd, former British Foreign Secretary

Josef Janning, Head of International Relations,
Bertelsmann Foundation; Deputy Director, Center for
Applied Political Research, Munich

Géza Jeszensky, former Hungarian Foreign Minister

Daniel Keohane, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for
European Reform, London

Ivan Krastev, Chairman of the Board and Research
Director, Centre for Liberal Strategies, Sofia

Mart Laar, former Estonian Prime Minister