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Japan, U.S., Australia Gravely Concerned About Iran

Posted on: Saturday, 18 March 2006, 18:00 CST

Sydney, March 18 (Jiji Press)--Japan, Australia and the United States on Saturday expressed serious concerns about Iran's nuclear program and called on Tehran to suspend uranium enrichment activities, after their first ministerial strategic meeting here.

In a joint statement issued after the inaugural ministerial meeting of the Trilateral Strategic Dialogue, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said they have "grave concerns about Iran's nuclear program."

The three ministers "discussed the need for concerted action at the U.N. Security Council to convince Iran to promptly suspend all enrichment-related activities, fully cooperate with the IAEA, return to negotiations and take all steps called for by the IAEA board," the statement said.

"There's no doubt about it, all of our countries are very concerned about the situation in Iran," Downer told reporters after the meeting. "Iran should abandon its decision to proceed with its so-called research program into uranium enrichment.""It should comply with the resolutions of the International Atomic Energy Agency and fully cooperate with the United Nations... and the broad wishes of the international community," Downer said.

The joint statement also said that the three ministers "welcomed China's constructive engagement" in the Asia-Pacific region and "concurred on the value of enhanced cooperation with other parties" such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and South Korea.

In a bid to soothe any Chinese concerns about the trilateral dialogue, Downer said that while Australia and Japan had strengthened their political ties in recent years, China had nothing to fear from the closer relationship.

"It's natural that countries that have a lot in common, like Australia, Japan and the U.S., to spend a lot of time talking to each other," he said. "We certainly don't have a policy of... trying to constrain China."

Aso stated in a briefing that "I think itfs important for China to be involved in international affairs," for instance in relation to North Korea.

Aso did, however, echo the apprehension regarding China's increasing military budget, shown by Rice, saying "what the Chinese government intends to do with this remains to be seen, so of course, we have doubts."

About North Korea, the ministers "called on it to return immediately and unconditionally to the six-party talks" on the reclusive state's nuclear issues with a view to implementing the joint statement of the fourth round of the talks last September, in which Pyongyang committed itself to abandoning all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs.

The three ministers also pointed to "the importance of reinforcing our global partnership with India" and noted that India's decision to place its civilian nuclear facilities and programs under international safeguards will be "a positive step toward expansion of the reach of the international nonproliferation regime."

The trilateral statement made no reference to Iraq, but the ministers are believed to have considered cautiously determining the timing of removing their troops from the Middle Eastern nation.

Aso later said, "the Iraqi government has not yet been formed, thus we do not yet have an absolute reason to withdraw from Iraq."

The statement also said that the three ministers "reaffirmed the need to continue efforts to reform the United Nations, including the Security Council," and the support for Japan's bid for a permanent seat on the Security Council.

Although the next ministerial-level meeting of the trilateral strategic dialogue has not been confirmed, Downer told reporters that he and his counterparts will meet at the ASEAN regional forum in July, the U.N. General Assembly in September, and in Hanoi, Vietnam at the year's end.

Ahead of the strategic talks, Aso met with Rice, apparently discussing how to share the costs for the planned relocation of U.S. Marines stationed in Japan's Okinawa Prefecture to Guam.END

Source: Jiji Press English News Service

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