EU: Too early for sanctions against Iran

[tocqueville]

By ROBERT WIELAARD, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 54 minutes ago

LAPPEENRANTA, Finland - The European Union said Friday it was too early to impose sanctions on Iran for its failure to halt uranium enrichment by a U.N.-imposed deadline, and announced it would be meeting early next week with Iran's top nuclear negotiator.

"For the EU, diplomacy remains the No. 1 way forward," said Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency.

He told a news conference "this is not the time or place" for the international community to hit Iran with sanctions over its nuclear program.

Iran defied a Thursday U.N. Security Council deadline to stop uranium enrichment, raising the prospect of U.N. economic and other sanctions. In Tehran, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reiterated that his country would not be bullied into giving up what he called Iran's right to nuclear technology

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060901/ap_on_re_eu/eu_iran_3