Iran will face tougher sanctions if it does not meet the demands of major powers to rein in its nuclear programme, the leaders of Germany and France said on Saturday. Chancellor Angela Merkel said Berlin hoped for a diplomatic solution to the dispute, referring to an offer by US President Barack Obama to hold direct talks with Tehran on the nuclear issue, an option his predecessor George W. Bush had ruled out.
"I think the new US administration will make its approach towards Iran clear to us in coming months," Merkel told the annual Munich Security Conference in a speech. "We are ready to walk this path together. But we are also ready for tougher sanctions if there is no progress."
French President Sarkozy told the same conference there was no alternative to tightening sanctions against Iran if it does not meet western demands and called on Russia to cooperate with other powers on such a move. "We need the Russians to help so that sanctions against Iran are effective," Sarkozy said. "We have only one solution left, reinforce sanctions against Iran and link Russia to this process."
"It is up to Russia to decide which face it wants to show. If it wants peace it should show it. If it wants to be a (global player), it should help us with Iran," he added. Sarkozy said Iran's announcement it had launched a satellite into orbit for the first time was "extremely bad news".
Sarkozy and Merkel were speaking at an annual gathering of leaders and defence experts in Munich, where US Vice President Joe Biden gave a speech on the foreign policy priorities of the Obama administration. Biden said the international community must work together to convince Iran to forgo the development of nuclear weapons.