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Iran warned over nuclear demands Putin attacks 'very dangerous' US
(about 1 hour later)
German chancellor Angela Merkel has told a global security forum that the international community is determined to stop Iran getting nuclear weapons. Russian President Vladimir Putin has attacked the United States for what he said was its "almost uncontained" use of force around the world.
She said there was "no way around" the need for Tehran to accept demands from the UN and nuclear watchdog, the IAEA. America's "very dangerous" approach to global relations was fuelling a nuclear arms race, he told a security summit.
Iran's top nuclear negotiator is set to tell the Munich summit that Iran wants nuclear power, not nuclear weapons. Earlier German chancellor Angela Merkel told the delegates in Munich that the international community was determined to stop Iran getting nuclear weapons.
Earlier the International Atomic Energy Agency said it had frozen about half of technical aid projects involving Iran. Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani is among delegates at the conference.
The IAEA says its move is to comply with UN sanctions imposed on Tehran late last year over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment. The conference, founded in 1962, has become an annual opportunity for world leaders to discuss the most pressing issues of the day.
'Very sensitive technology' What we are talking about here is a very, very sensitive technology, and for that reason we need a high degree of transparency... Angela Merkel class="" href="/1/hi/world/middle_east/4031603.stm">Q&A: Sanctions on Iran Mr Putin told senior security officials from around the world that nations were "witnessing an almost uncontained hyper use of force in international relations".
Angela Merkel's speech opened the Munich Conference on Security Policy, a gathering of about 250 of the world's top security officials, expected to include Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani. "One state, the United States, has overstepped its national borders in every way," the Russian president said.
What we are talking about here is a very, very sensitive technology, and for that reason we need a high degree of transparency... Angela Merkel class="" href="/1/hi/world/middle_east/4031603.stm">Q&A: Sanctions on Iran "This is very dangerous. Nobody feels secure anymore because nobody can hide behind international law," he said, speaking through a translator.
It would be his first meeting with European officials since the collapse of talks last year. "This is nourishing an arms race with the desire of countries to get nuclear weapons."
Key figures present also include Russian President Vladimir Putin and new US Defence Secretary Robert Gates. 'Power, not weapons'
"What we are talking about here is a very, very sensitive technology, and for that reason we need a high degree of transparency, which Iran has failed to provide, and if Iran does not do so then the alternative for Iran is to slip further into isolation," Mrs Merkel said. Earlier, Mrs Merkel told delegates there was "no way around" the need for Tehran to accept demands from the UN and nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The conference this year also focuses on Nato's changing role, the Middle East peace process, the West's relations with Russia and the fight against terrorism. Iran says it wants nuclear power, not nuclear weaponsMr Larijani was set to tell delegates that Iran wants nuclear power, not nuclear weapons.
Speaking after Mrs Merkel, Mr Putin criticised the United States for the "almost uncontained" use of force in the world, and for encouraging other countries to acquire nuclear weapons. European diplomats are hoping to hold informal talks with Mr Larijani on the sidelines of the two-day conference.
"We are witnessing an almost uncontained hyper use of force in international relations," Mr Putin said. It would be their first meeting since the collapse of talks last year and the imposition of limited UN sanctions on Tehran for its failure to stop the enrichment of uranium.
"One state, the United States, has overstepped its national borders in every way ... This is very dangerous, nobody feels secure anymore because nobody can hide behind international law." Mrs Merkel told the summit: "What we are talking about here is a very, very sensitive technology, and for that reason we need a high degree of transparency, which Iran has failed to provide, and if Iran does not do so then the alternative for Iran is to slip further into isolation."
'Tough line' On Friday, the IAEA said it had frozen about half of technical aid projects involving Iran.
Meanwhile, European officials were hoping to hold informal talks with Mr Larijani on the Iranian nuclear stand-off on the sidelines of the conference. It said the move was to comply with UN sanctions imposed on Tehran late last year over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment.
Earlier, an IAEA report said 22 technical aid projects involving Iran has been suspended to comply with the UN sanctions, which call for an end to programmes that could be exploited by Iran to develop nuclear weapons. An IAEA report said 22 technical aid projects involving Iran had been suspended to comply with the UN sanctions, which call for an end to programmes that could be exploited by Iran to develop nuclear weapons.
The IAEA gives technical aid to dozens of countries on the peaceful use of nuclear energy in fields such as medicine, agriculture and power generation.The IAEA gives technical aid to dozens of countries on the peaceful use of nuclear energy in fields such as medicine, agriculture and power generation.
The BBC's Kerry Skyring in Vienna says that the IAEA has been under pressure from the United States to take a tough line.
A senior UN official told Reuters news agency the freeze constituted a "substantial cut" in technical aid to Iran.