EU to prepare "carrots and sticks" package for Iran

The European Union cannot force Iran to give up its right to enrich uranium, Iran's foreign minister has said, dealing a blow to EU efforts to halt the process and ease fears Tehran is seeking a nuclear bomb.

"It is wrong for them (&to=http:// english.pravda.ru/world/20/91/365/14336_nongrata.html ' target=_blank>the EU) to think they can, through negotiations, force Iran to stop enrichment," Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi told a conference in &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/world/2003/12/09/51711.html ' target=_blank>Tehran on Tuesday. "Iran will never give up its right to enrichment."

Diplomats said the EU had agreed on Monday to prepare a package of "carrots and sticks" to get Iran to comply with demands by the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to suspend enrichment activities -- a process which can be used to make material for atomic bombs, reports Swissinfo.

According to the Seattle Post, on several occasions, the administration has tried to take the dispute to the U.N. Security Council. Another attempt is virtually certain after a meeting in late November of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog agency if Iran has not complied by then.