G8 ministers urge world to take stronger action on Iran

          Top diplomats from the world's leading economies are ramping up pressure on Iran to prove its nuclear ambitions are peaceful or face tough new sanctions. Opening a conference of foreign ministers from the Group of Eight main industrialized nations on Tuesday, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Iran must halt its nuclear enrichment activities and comply with international demands to come clean about its atomic program. On behalf of the ministers, Harper urged the world to adopt a heightened focus on the Iranian nuclear issue and take stronger coordinated action against Iran. A draft of the final communique also said the G8 remained open to dialogue with Tehran, which denies widespread western charges that it is seeking to make atomic weapons. The G8 ministers will end a two-day meeting in Canada on Tuesday. A copy of the communique, dated Monday, was shown to Reuters. Earlier, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, launching the G8 summit Monday, said the world could not accept a nuclear-armed Iran and that China could help resolve the impasse with Tehran. Speaking at a meeting expected to focus on Iran, Clinton played down fears that China was out of step with the other permanent members of the U.N. Security Council on the question of imposing a fourth round of sanctions against Tehran. "In fact, China is part of the consultative group that has been unified all along the way, which has made it very clear that a nuclear-armed Iran is not acceptable to the international community," Clinton told CTV in an interview. "I think, as the weeks go forward and we begin the hard work of trying to come up with a Security Council resolution, China will be involved. They will be making their suggestions," she said. "As in any effort, we're going to have to try to come to some consensus and we're in the middle of that process." The meeting this week brings together the foreign ministers from the Group of Eight industrialized countries, which includes the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Japan, Germany, Italy and Russia. The three Western members of the Security Council -- the United States, France and Britain -- have been pushing hard for a new round of sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, which they fear is a cover for producing atomic weapons. Russia has been less enthusiastic but has recently signaled that it may come on board with the plan. But China, which has close economic links to Iran, has repeatedly said that the world needs more time to find a diplomatic solution to the standoff over the Iranian nuclear program, which Tehran insists is purely for peaceful purposes. U.S. officials have indicated that while the countries at this week's G8 conference are largely agreed on the likelihood of new sanctions against Iran, the scope and severity of the new measures remained to be worked out. Those discussions have gathered steam since Tehran rejected an offer of a nuclear fuel swap deal that would have been brokered by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg, speaking to reporters in Washington, said the United States was encouraged by some of the signs coming from Beijing. "On issues of concern to us, we have seen some progress," Steinberg said. Earlier Monday, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said he did not favor imposing economic sanctions to pressure Iran into showing that it has no covert nuclear weapons program. Erdogan discussed different approaches with visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel to international efforts to rein in Iran's nuclear ambitions, but made clear Turkey's reluctance to back the use of sanctions. "We are of the view that sanctions are not a healthy path and that the best route is diplomacy," he said at a joint news conference with Merkel. Turkey is a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and Erdogan said it had not yet reached a firm decision on how it would vote on a U.S.-backed sanctions resolution. Merkel urged NATO ally Ankara to be ready to support the imposition of sanctions through the UN unless Iran shows transparency to assure the international community that it has no ambitions for nuclear weapons. "We would be happy if Turkey votes in April on the Iran issue together with the United States and the European Union," she said. Turkey, frustrated by the slow progress of its EU membership negotiations, doubts the effectiveness of sanctions and its trade would inevitably suffer if sanctions were imposed on its fellow Muslim neighbor. "Turkey shares a 380 km (240 mile) border with Iran and it is an important partner, especially in energy. When appraising our relations we shouldn't ignore this," Erdogan said. He also raised doubts about the results of three earlier rounds of milder sanctions against Iran. In an apparently veiled reference to Israel, the Turkish leader referred to another country in the region that possessed nuclear weapons. Israel is widely assumed to have the bomb but has never admitted to possessing nuclear weapons. "We are against nuclear weapons in our region. But is there another country in our region that has nuclear weapons? Yes, there is. And have they been subjected to sanctions? No," Erdogan said. Turkey is worried about the potential for a nuclear arms race in the region between Iran and Israel, though it does not feel directly threatened by either country. "If the world trusts us, we would fine a middle path with Iran. I hope that we will reach a result if we continue to work," Erdogan said. Despite good relations with Tehran, Erdogan's own attempts to persuade the Iranian leadership to make moves needed to allay international concerns have so far come to naught. (21,36)