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Carla Bruni-Sarkozy has been branded a ‘prostitute’ by Iran after she publicly attacked the country for threatening to stone a woman to death.
France’s First Lady is part of a campaign to save the life of Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, a 43-year-old mother of two.
She is accused of cheating on her husband and then helping to kill him, and is now facing capital punishment for her crimes.
Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, who became President Nicolas Sarkozy¿s third wife two years ago, has signed a petition calling for Sakineh¿s release
Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtian is accused of cheating on her husband and then helping to kill him, and is now facing capital punishment for her crimes
A protester, dressed with a costume to depict a woman stoned to death in Iran, participates in a demonstration in Paris yesterday over the death sentence against Mrs Mohammadi Ashtiani
Ms Bruni-Sarkozy, who became President Nicolas Sarkozy’s third wife two years ago, has signed a petition calling for Sakineh’s release.
Last week the former supermodel said: ‘I just can’t see what good could come out of this macabre ceremony, whatever the judicial reasons put forward to justify it.’
Addressing Sakineh directly in an open letter, Ms Bruni-Sarkozy wrote: ‘Why shed your blood and deprive your children of their mother? Because you have lived, because you have loved, because you’re a woman, and because you’re an Iranian? Everything within me refuses to accept this.’
But Kayhan (which means ‘Universe’ in English), the Iranian daily newspaper which acts as a mouthpiece for the country’s ultra conservative Islamic regime, has now accused 42-year-old Ms Bruni-Sarkozy of being a hypocrite.
An editorial in the paper points to her chequered love life, which has included numerous relationships with high-profile celebrities.
Entitled ‘French prostitutes join the human rights protest,’ the article singles out Ms Bruni-Sarkozy and Isabelle Adjani, the French actress and friend of the First Lady who is also calling for Sakineh’s release.
Kayhan aims to ‘defend the ideology of the Islamic Revolution’ and is directly under the supervision of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government.
Iranian state television also attacked Ms Bruni-Sarkozy for her support for Sakineh, saying she was using it to try and justify her own immorality.
The Elysee Palace had no formal reaction to the slurs in the Iranian media, but an insider said Ms Bruni-Sarkozy was ‘deeply shocked’ by the personal attack.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki speaks during a joint press conference with his Austrian counterpart Michael Spindelegger (not pictured) in Vienna April 25, 2010.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said here on Sunday that Iran is willing to consider enriching uranium in other countries as suggested by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
At a joint press conference held after meeting his Austrian counterpart Michael Spindelegger, the visiting Iranian official said his country is willing to negotiate on the issue, but details should be worked out later. He said he will discuss the issue with members of the UN Security Council.
Mottaki reiterated that Iran has the right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and there was no reason for sanctions against Iran on the issue. Furthermore, the sanctions imposed on Iran over the past five years have been ineffectual, he added.
But Spindelegger said Iran should cooperate with the global community on the issue actively, otherwise "the trend of sanctions against Iran" will continue.
He also said that he "did obtain some new messages" during the meeting with Mottaki, but he still needs to evaluate them. The massages will be disclosed at a meeting of EU foreign ministers next Monday.
Mottaki also met IAEA chief Yukiya Amano during his visit to Vienna.
The United States, other Western countries and Israel criticized Iran's nuclear plan, which they said is intended to develop nukes. But Iran said its nuclear plan is for peaceful purposes only and defended its right to use nuclear energy.
The IAEA made a proposal last autumn, suggesting that Iran take its low-enrichment uranium of 3.5 percent to other countries, where it can be processed into high-enrichment uranium of 20 percent before being sent back to Iran. The processed high-enrichment uranium will be then used as fuel for nuclear reactors and for medical purpose.
Tehran University professor Massoud Ali-Mohammadi who was killed by a bomb in front of his home
Iranian fire fighters wash the scene of a bombing in northern Tehran's Qeytariyeh neighborhood this morning
Professor Massoud Ali Mohammadi was killed as he was climbing into his car when a nearby parked motorbike exploded
An Iranian security agent speaks on his mobile phone at the scene of the explosion which killed Professor Mohammadi
ran has blamed the U.S. and Israel for the assassination of one of the country's top nuclear scientists.
Massoud Ali Mohammadi was killed this morning by a bomb-rigged motorcycle parked outside his Tehran home.
He has just left the house on his way to work when the remote-controlled explosion went off.
Websites linked to the country's clerical leadership blamed the killing on an armed Iranian opposition group under the direction of Israeli agents.
But Massoud Ali Mohammadi was a vocal supporter of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi after the disputed presidential election result last June.
The blast shattered the windows of Mohammadi's home in northern Tehran's Qeytariyeh neighborhood and left the pavement outside smeared with blood and strewn with debris.
It is unclear whether the 50-year-old was actively involved in the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, which controls the country's nuclear programme.
'Signs of the triangle of wickedness by the Zionist regime (Israel), America and their hired agents, are visible in the terrorist act,' the Foreign Ministry said.
'Such terrorist acts and the apparent elimination of the country's nuclear scientists will definitely not obstruct scientific and technological processes,' it added.
A US government spokesman described the accusations as 'absurd'. Another Iranian nuclear scientist, Shahram Amiri, disappeared in June while on a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.
Amiri's disappearance raised questions about whether he defected and gave the West information on Iran's nuclear program, but Iran's foreign minister accused the U.S. of helping to kidnap him and asked for his return.
Amiri worked at a university linked to the elite Revolutionary Guard military corps and his wife said he was researching medical uses of nuclear technology at a university.
In 2007, state TV reported that another nuclear scientist, Ardeshir Hosseinpour, died as a result of gas poisoning.
A one-week delay in the reporting of his death prompted speculation about the causes, including that Israel's Mossad spy agency was to blame.
The United States and its allies in Europe have been pushing Iran to halt its uranium enrichment program, a technology that can be used to make fuel for power plants but which also offers a possible pathway to weapons development.
Israel has threatened to take military action if diplomatic efforts fail. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday said the Obama administration has concluded that the best way to pressure Iran to come clean on its nuclear ambitions is to impose sanctions aimed at the country's ruling elite.
'It is clear that there is a relatively small group of decision makers inside Iran,' Clinton told reporters traveling with her on the first leg of a nine-day trip across the Pacific.
'They are in both political and commercial relationships, and if we can create a sanctions track that targets those who actually make the decisions, we think that is a smarter way to do sanctions. But all that is yet to be decided upon.'
Iran is already under three sets of U.N. sanctions for refusing to freeze its enrichment work.
On Tuesday, a spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry, Ramin Mehmanparast, told reporters that sanctions would not work. 'This is not a constructive attitude,' he said. 'I do not think the issue can be solved this way. Instead, our nuclear rights should be respected.'
Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi confirmed that Ali Mohammadi had been killed and added that there had been no arrests.
Iran denies having any intention to produce weapons and insists its nuclear work only has peaceful aims, such as energy production.
Mohammadi was the author of several articles on quantum and theoretical physics in scientific journals.
He also was a member of some academic associations focusing on experimental science, but he did not appear to have any high-profile role in promoting Iran's nuclear programme.
He received his doctorate in 1992 from the Sharif University of Technology in Tehran.
The assassination of one of Iran's nuclear scientists is an indication of the country's advancement in different scientific fields, the head of a leading scientific establishment in the capital said Tuesday.
Professor Masoud Ali-Mohammadi, a lecturer at Tehran University, was killed by a booby-trapped motorbike blast in the Iranian capital earlier in the day. The explosion took place near the professor's home in the Qeytariyeh neighborhood of northern Tehran.
"Our scientific expertise has prompted our enemies to target our scientists," Mohammad-Javad Larijani, who heads the Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences, said.
Ali-Mohammadi had cooperated with the institute that offers various advanced PhD degrees in areas such as Mathematical Logic and Plasma Physics among others.
The enemy, the Berkeley-educated mathematician said, has made a colossal mistake as the death of one scientist will only motivate tens of other Ali-Mohammadi's to rise in his place.
Iran's Foreign Ministry said that it found traces of US and Israel's involvement in the assassination of an Iranian nuclear physics scientist.
"Primary investigations into the assassination revealed signs of the involvement of the Zionist regime [Israel], the US and their allies in Iran," ministry spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast said.
Mohammad Marandi, a professor at Tehran University, told Press TV that Ali-Mohammadi's colleagues at the capital's most prestigious university believe the attack was orchestrated by the West.
"It is widely believed among collogues that he was assassinated by terrorist organizations probably supported by the United States and with connections with the Americans and the Israelis under different names," he said.
"Unfortunately when it comes to Iran anything is acceptable in the eyes of the foreign powers."
Defense Secretary Robert Gates(left) said on Friday he expected the international community to impose significant additional sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki (right)
Two Iranians work at the zirconium production plant, part of the nuclear facilities
The United States bluntly dismissed an Iranian offer Saturday to swap nuclear fuel, which a senior US official said was inconsistent with a deal allowing the Islamic republic to avoid further sanctions.
"Iran's proposal today does not appear to be consistent with the fair and balanced draft agreement proposed by the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) in consultation with the United States, Russia and France," the official said on condition of anonymity.
Iran's foreign minister earlier proposed that Tehran swap 880 pounds (400 kilograms) of low-enriched uranium for nuclear fuel in an exchange on the island of Kish, a free trade zone, as the first phase of a deal with world powers.
The US official said Iran's offer contained "nothing new" and urged the country to take up the existing IAEA proposal, which calls on Iran to send 2,645 pounds (1,200 kilograms) of its low enriched uranium to Russia "in one batch."
"We remain committed to these terms. Unfortunately, Iran has been unwilling to engage in further talks on its nuclear program," the official said. "We urge Iran not to squander this opportunity."
The IAEA had previously ruled out a swap taking place inside Iran.
"I don't think that is an option. The whole purpose of the deal is to defuse the crisis," outgoing chief Mohamed ElBaradei said last month at the agency's Vienna base before handing over to his successor, Yukiya Amano.
Many in the West suspect Iran is developing technology to enrich uranium to highly refined levels to covertly build a nuclear bomb, a charge Tehran vehemently denies, saying its nuclear program serves peaceful purposes.
The US official said the IAEA-brokered agreement was "an opportunity for Iran to begin to build confidence in the peaceful nature of its nuclear program."
On Friday, the White House warned Iran it faced "credible consequences" if it did not respond positively to the offer by the end of the year, while European Union leaders warned that Tehran's refusal to negotiate over its nuclear program must be met with a tough response.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Friday he expected the international community to impose significant additional sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.
Iran to face possible harsh sanctions for refusing to backoff from Uranium standoff.
A senior U.S. official said the United States and its allies would decide early next year whether to pursue more sanctions.
Gates also told U.S. troops in northern Iraq that military action against Iran would only delay its nuclear progress and instead urged a package of "incentives and disincentives" to convince leaders in Tehran to meet western demands.
He made his comments as European Union leaders meeting in Brussels expressed grave concerns about Iran's nuclear ambitions and also warned of new sanctions.
"I think you're going to see some significant additional sanctions imposed by the international community, assuming that the Iranians don't change course and agree to do the things they signed up to do at the beginning of October," Gates said.
Gates was referring to a deal under which Iran would have transferred stocks of low-enriched uranium (LEU) abroad, receiving fuel in return to run a reactor producing medical isotopes.
He said Iran was "stiffing" the international community by refusing to implement what was agreed in October.
That "has brought the international community, including the Russians and the Chinese, together in a way that they have not been in terms of significant additional sanctions on the Iranians," he said.
Western powers saw the deal as reducing Iran's scope to divert LEU for potential bomb-making, but Tehran later backed away from it.
In a statement, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the United States echoed the concerns expressed by European leaders and that Washington remained committed to finding a diplomatic solution.
"However, if Iran continues to fail to bring its nuclear program into full compliance with the requirements of the United Nations Security Council and the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), there will be consequences and we will be consulting closely with our partners to ensure those consequences are credible," Gibbs said. STRIKE WOULD ONLY BUY TIME
The United States, Britain and France warned Iran on Thursday that it may face new sanctions over its nuclear program, but Russia and China hinted that they were not convinced more punitive steps were needed.
The exchange of views during a U.N. Security Council debate on Iran showed how the Western powers' desire to ratchet up the pressure on a defiant Tehran over its atomic ambitions might face tough resistance from Moscow and Beijing.
The West suspects Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons. Iran rejects the allegations, along with U.N. demands that it suspend a program it says is intended solely for the peaceful generation of electricity.
Western officials say recent revelations about a previously hidden uranium enrichment plant in Iran have made Tehran's denials less credible.
Asked in a meeting with U.S. troops in Kirkuk about using military force to halt Iran's nuclear ambitions, Gates expressed skepticism over whether such action would work.
"Let me just say, you never take any options off the table. But the reality is that any military action would only buy some time, maybe two or three years," he said.
"So at the end of the day the way to avoid a nuclear-armed Iran is to put together a package of incentives and disincentives that persuade the Iranian government that they would actually be less secure with nuclear weapons than if they had them."
He added: "If we learned anything from Iraq over the past six years, it is the inherent unpredictability of war."
A U.S. official traveling with him on a five-day visit to Afghanistan and Iraq said a decision on sanctions would be made early in 2010.
"That's where we're heading," the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Gates's plane.
In a draft statement expected to be approved at the meeting of EU leaders, they urged Iran to comply without delay with resolutions by the United Nations Security Council and the U.N.'s IAEA.
"Iran's persistent failure to meets its international obligations and Iran's apparent lack on interest in pursuing negotiations require a clear response, including through appropriate measures."
The term "appropriate measures" is used by the EU to refer to sanctions.
- Flashback: HMS Cornwall crew members, including Faye Turney, centre, were paraded on Iranian TV during their 2007 hostage ordeal. Foreign Secretary David Miliband has said the two incidents are not linked
Hostages: Oliver Young (right) and Luke Porter pictured together earlier this year
Sam Usher, Olly Smith, Luke Porter and Oliver Young - four of the Britons seized as they sailed in the Gulf
Held: Dave Bloomer, a DJ for Radio Bahrain, has been named as a captive
September 2008 photo released by Team Pindar of the race yacht Kingdom of Bahrain sailing at an unknown location. Britain's Foreign Office says that the yacht, owned by Sail Bahrain and carrying five U.K. nationals has been stopped by Iranian naval vessels, and they are now in Iran. Government officials said Monday November 30 2009 that the yacht may have strayed inadvertently into Iranian waters when it was stopped last Wednesday en route from Bahrain to Dubai to take part in a race.Racing yacht: The Kingdom Of Bahrain (pictured) may have 'inadvertently strayed' into Iranian territorial waters
November 2008 photo released by Team Pindar of the race yacht Kingdom of Bahrain off the coast of France. Britain's Foreign Office says that the yacht, owned by Sail Bahrain and carrying five U.K. nationals has been stopped by Iranian naval vessels, and they are now in Iran. Government officials said Monday that the yacht may have strayed inadvertently into Iranian waters when it was stopped last Wednesday en route from Bahrain to Dubai to take part in a race.
In this undated photo released by the Friendshiparabia.com website via APTN, "Kingdom of Bahrain" crew member David Bloomer is seen at an unknown location in Jordan. Iran is holding five British sailors, including David Bloomer, after stopping their racing yacht in the Persian Gulf, the British government said Monday,
Iran warned on Tuesday that it will take strong action against five British sailors detained by the Iranian navy after their racing yacht was stopped last week in the Persian Gulf if it is proven they had "bad intentions."
The detention could heighten tensions between Iran and major world powers, including Britain, that are demanding a halt to Tehran's controversial nuclear program. It could also flare up the longtime rivalry between Iran and Bahrain, since the yacht was the pride of a high-profile racing program sponsored by the Arab Gulf nation's king.
The British government said Monday that Iran is holding the five British crewmembers after their yacht, owned by Sail Bahrain, was stopped last Wednesday after straying inadvertently into Iranian waters while en route to Dubai to join the Dubai-Muscat Offshore Sailing Race.
Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Britain has been in touch about the case with Iranian counterparts and hoped the matter would be resolved soon. Speaking Tuesday to BBC, Miliband described the issue as a "purely consular matter."
"There's certainly no confrontation or argument," Miliband said. "As far as we are aware, these people are being well treated, which is right and what we would expect from a country like Iran."
But the head of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's said Iran will prosecute the Britons if they intended to "violate the national security" of Iran.
"Naturally if bad intentions on the part of these individuals are proven, there will be a serious and strong attitude toward them," Esfandiar Rahim Mashai said, according to the Fars news agency. "The decision will be up to the judiciary, which is independent from the administration."
The five were detained by Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard, Fars reported. The Guard, which runs its own naval forces, has the responsibility of protecting Iran's Persian Gulf waters. The Guard's navy chief, Gen. Ali Reza Tangsiri, said that if the five were stopped in the Gulf it would be by the Guard — though he did not confirm the detention.
Iran has taken a tough line with previous cases of Westerners entering its borders. It detained three young Americans who strayed across the border from northern Iraq in July. Despite U.S. insistence that they were innocent hikers who accidentally entered Iran, Tehran has accused them of espionage — a sign that they could be put on trial.
Miliband insisted that the five Britons were civilians who "were going about their sport."
"It seems they may have strayed inadvertently into Iranian waters. We look forward to the Iranian government dealing with this promptly," he said.
Sail Bahrain's Web site identified the yacht as the "Kingdom of Bahrain" and said it had been due to join the 360-mile (580-kilometer) Dubai-Muscat Offshore Sailing Race, which was to begin Nov. 26. The event was to be the boat's first offshore race, the Web site said, adding that the vessel had been fitted with a satellite tracker.
British media identified the five as Oliver Smith, Sam Usher, Luke Porter, Oliver Young, and David Bloomer.
The detention of the British would not be the first of foreign nationals by Tehran.
Fifteen British military personnel were detained in the Gulf by Iran under disputed circumstances in March 2007. Iran charged them with trespassing in its waters, and the Iranian government televised apologies by some of the captured crew.
All were eventually freed without an apology from Britain, which steadfastly insisted the crew members were taken in Iraqi waters, where they were authorized to be.
The crew were named as Sam Usher, Olly Smith, Luke Porter and Oliver Young - and David Bloomer, who works as a radio presenter in Bahrain.
The Government has known about the incident, which was made public yesterday, since last Wednesday – but details were kept private so that negotiations could take place.
It appears that the high-tech yacht was swept towards Iran by strong winds after its propeller was damaged.
Last night 21-year-old Mr Porter's mother Beverley said her husband Charles had spoken to their son on his mobile phone.
She said the sailors had strayed into Iranian waters by only 500 yards, but were now being held somewhere off Iran. Mrs Porter, who lives in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, said: 'They didn't know that they had strayed over this imaginary line.
'Apparently they are fine and being well-looked after but are most of all frustrated. They have been allowed from time to time to use their mobile phones.
'They don't know when they're going to be released because of the religious festival that is going on over there.'
Her 48-year-old husband added: 'From what we understand, there was an oil field on their charts - which is a restricted area - so they chose to go one side of it.
'In doing so they strayed too close to a small island called Sirri. I assume that is when they were picked up. They're miffed that they are being cooped up and a race was going on.'
Mr Porter added: 'Luke is a very resilient chap. I'm sure he'll deal with things very well but obviously we are very worried about him.'
He said the four sailors had done thousands of miles together over the last three years.
Mr Bloomer had been due to report on the sailors' progress in the 360-mile Dubai-Muscat race.
The Kingdom of Bahrain is a Volvo 60 - the Formula One car of racing yachts.
It is operated by Team Pindar, an international racing team owned by British multi-millionaire Andrew Pindar, who received an OBE from Prince Charles in June for his services to business. It is one of only 19 such yachts in the world.
Diplomats say they have been in 'indirect contact' with the hostages and that they are confident they are being well treated.
Privately the officials are furious that the news broke. They had hoped to keep the incident secret in order to avoid a new diplomatic incident with Iran.
The worst case scenario would see the sailors charged with espionage, handing the regime in Tehran another international propaganda coup. Iran's foreign ministry is expected to make a statement on the sailors today.
'The Iranians know that they are not British naval personnel,' said one diplomat. 'We've explained that to them very clearly. Whether they chose to hear is another matter.' The fear is that the hostages have been taken by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard - the powerful hardline group behind Iran's nuclear weapons programme - which held the Navy personnel two years ago.
Senior government officials admitted negotiations with the Iranians were proving difficult since the country has been celebrating the annual Muslim festival of Eid.
Ultimately their fate of the hostages is in the hands of the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamanei. Foreign Secretary David Miliband said: 'I hope this issue will soon be resolved. We will remain in close touch with the Iranian authorities, as well as the families.'
The kidnap comes at a time of growing tensions with Iran over its nuclear weapons programme.
Earlier this year President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad proclaimed that Britain was a worse enemy of Iran than the United States.
Iranian plan to build more nuclear facilities and plan to process own uranium fuels.
Iranian vice-president Salehi said Tehran's decision to expand its nuclear facilities was a response to a new UN resolution.After IAEA rebuke,Iran rejected the offer to sent enriched uranium to Russian for processing and now plan to build 10 more nuclear power plants.
A decision by the United Nations nuclear agency to censure Tehran for its disputed nuclear programme left the country with no choice but to order the construction of 10 new nuclear plants, an Iranian vice-president has said.
Ali Akbar Salehi told state radio on Monday that Tehran had no plans to build any new uranium enrichment faciliities until the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) passed a resolution rebuking Iran.
"We had no intention of building many facilities like the Natanz site, but apparently the West doesn't want to understand Iran's peaceful message," The Associated Press news agency quoted Salehi as saying.
"The action ... at the IAEA prompted the [Iranian] government to approve a proposal to build 10 sites like that of Natanz," he said, referring to Iran's largest nuclear enrichment plant.
But Ali Larijani, Iran's parliament speaker and former chief nuclear negotiator, said that negotiation was still possible over the programme, which he again insisted is meant only for civilian energy production
"I still think there is a diplomatic opportunity and it is beneficial to them [the world powers] to use this, so that Iran continues its work under the framework of the agency and international supervision," Larijani said.
"They are free to choose the decision and Iran will act accordingly."
Iranian anger
His comments came after the IAEA resolution demanded Iran halt the construction of a newly revealed enrichment facility near the city of Qom.
For the first time China and Russia, two of Iran's traditional allies, backed Friday's resolution.
Iran disclosed the Qom plant in September, but said that it had not broken any IAEA regulations in not announcing the presence of the facility earlier, because there is not yet any nuclear material at the plant.
"Iranians did not expect the resolution by the IAEA. They are angry and much of what they are saying is a reaction to the decision," Sadegh Zibakalam, a political science professor at Tehran university, said.
"The Iranian leaders are more angry with the Russian and Chinese leaders, rather than the Americans, British and French in the decision-making process. They did not expect Russia and China to go along in condemning Iran," he told Al Jazeera.
"But over the next few days and weeks tempers will be calm and I don't think Iran will go ahead with building more enrichment plants."
Al Jazeera's Alireza Ronaghi, reporting from Tehran, said Iran's announcement to build the new nuclear sites was an attempt to document the government's defiance against world powers on the nuclear issue.
"President Ahmadinejad has been under a lot of pressure internally even from his allies. They have been accusing his government of being too soft in front of Western powers," he said.
"Right now, quite the opposite is happening and President Ahmadinejad is being praised by his supporters over his stance, which is very, very aggressive now."
Parliament's demands
Iranian MPs have demanded that the government of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's president, reduce co-operation with the IAEA in response to the resolution.
"We consider the behaviour of the IAEA to be that of double standards and political. We want it to give up this double standard which has tarnished its reputation," the MPs said in a statement on Friday.
But France on Monday called Iran's response to the IAEA "ridiculous" and "childish", and warned that such a stance could lead to the imposition of new UN sanctions.
"For Iran to continue to ignore the demands of a great independent agency like the International Atomic Energy Agency is very dangerous," Bernard Kouchner, France's foreign minister, told the daily Le Figaro newspaper.
"Why announce 10 new enrichment sites when Iran doesn't have a single nuclear power station to use the fuel?"
In a separate interview on RTL radio, Kouchner said the announcement proved the Iranians were "making fools of themselves" with their "ridiculous" and "fairly childish" reaction, the AFP news agency reported.
Western powers, including the US, accuse Iran of covertly seeking to develop atomic weapons, which Tehran denies.
They have urged Iran to accept a UN brokered offer that would delay Iran's ability to make a nuclear weapon as well as engage in broader talks with the ultimate goal of persuading it to stop its enrichment programme.
Iran has amassed about 1,500 kilogrammes of low-enriched uranium at Natanz but insists it is for civilian purposes.
The UN offer aims to convince Iran to hand over more than 1,200 kilogrammes, more than the commonly accepted amount needed to produce weapons-grade material.
President Barack Obama exits Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009.
In this Nov. 17, 2009 file photo, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki addresses the media in Tehran, Iran.
Representatives of six world powers urged Iran on Friday to accept a U.N. plan aimed at delaying its ability to build a nuclear weapon, as the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency warned Tehran not to miss the opportunity to resolve the dispute.
An EU official said there was no mention of imposing sanctions against Iran for its refusal to halt nuclear enrichment activities at the meeting of senior diplomats from the U.N. Security Council's five permanent members plus Germany.
"These things are a matter of timing, and this was not the right time for it," said the official who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.
The talks in Brussels involved political directors — foreign ministry officials below ministerial level. The United States was represented by Undersecretary of State William Burns, and Russia by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.
The talks came just a day after a day after President Barack Obama said the six nations will develop a package of serious new punitive measures in coming weeks. He did not give details.
On Wednesday, Tehran indicated it would not export its enriched uranium for further processing, effectively rejecting the latest plan brokered by the International Atomic Energy Agency and aimed at delaying Iran's ability to build a nuclear weapon.
Under the IAEA plan, Iran would export its uranium for enrichment in Russia and France where it would be converted into fuel rods, which would be returned to Iran about a year later. The rods can power reactors but cannot be readily turned into weapons-grade material.
A statement issued by the political directors expressed disappointment over Iran's failure to engage in intensified dialogue since a promising meeting on Oct. 1 in Geneva. The West says Tehran agreed in principle to export that amount in one shipment during the Geneva talks — something Iranian officials have denied.
The statement also noted that Tehran had not responded positively to the IAEA proposal.
"We urge Iran to reconsider the opportunity offered by this agreement ... and to engage seriously with us in dialogue and negotiations," the statement said.
The officials said they would hold a follow-up meeting around Christmas.
In Berlin, Mohamed ElBaradei, the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency chief, pressed Iran to work with the international community.
"I would hate to see that we are moving back to sanctions," ElBaradei said. "Because sanctions, at the end of the day ... really don't resolve issues."
He said the IAEA had not yet received a formal reply from Tehran to its proposals, although Iranian officials had told him they would not send uranium for reprocessing abroad unless they first received promised fuel rods.
"Well, that to me is an extreme case of distrust," ElBaradei said. "And what we are really trying to do is replace distrust by a degree of trust."
In Washington, State Department spokesman Robert Wood said the U.S. has not given up hope that Iran will accept and implement the uranium exchange.
"We continue to call on Iran to accept this proposal with regard to the Tehran research reactor. We think it's a good one," Wood said. "We think it's a great way for Iran to show, if, indeed, its intentions are peaceful, that they want to cooperate with the international community with regard to its nuclear program."
Iranian Foreign Minister Manochehr Mottaki on Thursday played down the threat of sanctions saying embargoes had proved ineffective in the past and that he didn't believe they would be tried again.
International Iran sanction looked dim.
The Obama administration is shifting the focus of its Iran policy from talk to sanctions, but the prospect of winning early international support for toughened new penalties appears dim.
Equally problematic is finding a set of sanctions that would have a significant impact on the prime target of American and international worry: Iran's suspected pursuit of an atom bomb. Three rounds of U.N. sanctions, dating to December 2006 and aimed mainly at squeezing Iran's nuclear work, have had little apparent effect.
The administration may get an early indication of its prospects at a huddle Friday in Brussels with senior diplomats from the four other permanent members of the U.N. Security Council — Russia, China, Britain and France — plus Germany. Any decisions on new Iran sanctions, though, are likely weeks away.
The administration has tried for months to draw Iran into talks to resolve international worries that its declared intent to develop a civilian nuclear power network is cover for a secret nuclear weapons program. But the Iranians have shown little interest, while denying any clandestine nuclear ambition.
The diplomacy, while unsuccessful so far, may improve the administration's chances on sanctions by demonstrating to the Europeans, Chinese and others that Washington has at least tried to find an accommodation with Iran.
"Many of them are still instinctively against sanctions, but Iranian intransigence has put them in a bind," said Karim Sadjadpour, an Iran expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a think tank.
President Barack Obama said Thursday in South Korea that because the Iranians rejected a U.N. proposal to ship the majority of Iran's low-enriched uranium out of the country, "we have begun discussions with our international partners" about new pressure tactics. He said "a package of potential steps" against the Iranians would be developed over the next several weeks. He was not more specific.
The uranium gambit was seen as a way of getting Iran to open up, but on Wednesday Iranian Foreign Minister Manochehr Mottaki appeared to close that door by saying Iran would not send its uranium abroad. The uranium, if enriched sufficiently, could be used to produce a nuclear weapon, although Iran insists it is intended as fuel to power a planned network of civilian nuclear power reactors.
If, as some suspect, China and perhaps Russia balk at imposing new sanctions on Iran, the U.S. could enact its own penalties and coordinate them with the European Union, as it has done in the past. The administration's first choice, however, is to get the U.N. Security Council to ratchet up the pressure.
One possibility is to strengthen existing U.N. sanctions such as a March 2008 provision for financial monitoring of certain banks with suspected connections to the illicit spread of nuclear technologies.
Both houses of Congress are considering legislation that would give Obama a broad new array of authority to target Iran's energy sector by penalizing foreign companies that sell and ship refined oil products to Iran. Despite Iran's large oil holdings, it has limited capacity to make refined products like gasoline.
Obama has expressed confidence that he can persuade allies to join him in getting tougher on Iran, given widespread opposition to a nuclear-armed Iran. But it's far from clear that China, which has strong and growing commercial and investment ties to Iran, would go along. Russia's intentions also are unclear, although Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in September that sanctions may be inevitable.
Stephen P. Cohen, president of the Institute for Middle East Peace and Development, said it's no surprise that China has not publicly expressed a willingness to consider new sanctions, even if it might eventually go along. More significant, Cohen said, are recent Russian statements suggesting possible support.
"This is probably why the president thinks that he can discuss sanctions now without it being blown out of the water within five minutes by the Chinese and the Russians," Cohen said in a telephone interview.
Trita Parsi, president of the National Iranian American Council, is doubtful of a positive turn of events, in part because he sees the Iranian leadership in turmoil following a disputed presidential election in June.
That might be why, he suggested, Iran has shown little interest in a separate International Atomic Energy Agency offer to provide nuclear fuel for an Iranian research reactor in exchange for Iran's shipping the majority of its low-enriched uranium to Russia or another third country.
"You may have a political system (in Tehran) that is so fractured, that is so at each other's throat, that they are incapable of making a decision of this magnitude," Parsi said.
The 36-storey skyscraper in New York, known as the Piaget building, was erected in the 1970s on Manhattan's posh Fifth Avenue
U.S. Marshals post a copy of the federal government's demands last night on the door of a school in the New York borough of Queens borough. The school is among the assets listed by U.S. prosecutors
last night as the government took steps to seize it as part of the operation
The entrance to the Piaget skyscraper in New York yesterday. As part of its claim the U.S. government wants to seize the building
Another view of the Razi school in the Queens borough of New York last night
U.S. Federal authorities have moved to seize this Islamic Education Centre - a primary school and mosque - in Houston
Four mosques and a Manhattan skyscraper owned by a Muslim organisation are suspected by U.S. prosecutors of being secretly controlled by the Iranian government.
Prosecutors filed a civil complaint yesterday in federal court against the Alavi Foundation in an attempt to take control of more than $500million in assets.
The move may be one of the biggest counter-terrorism seizures in American history.
The assets include bank accounts; Islamic centres consisting of schools and mosques in New York City, Maryland, California and Houston; more than 100 acres of land in Virginia; and a 36-story glass office tower in New York.
The mosques and the skyscraper will remain open while the case is tangled up in the courts. It is expected to be a long legal process.
What will happen to them if the government wins is unclear. The U.S. government usually sells properties it has seized through forfeiture, and the proceeds are sometimes distributed to crime victims.
Prosecutors claim the Alavi Foundation managed the office tower on behalf of the Iranian government.
Working with a front company known as Assa Corp., the Foundation illegally funnelled millions in rental income to Iran's state-owned Bank Melli, they claim.
Bank Melli has been accused by a U.S. Treasury official of providing support for Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. It is illegal in the U.S. to do business with the bank.
The U.S. has long suspected the foundation was an arm of the Iranian government. A 97-page complaint includes details of the involvement of several top Iranian officials in the Foundation's business - including the deputy prime minister and ambassadors to the United Nations.
The skyscraper in New York, known as the Piaget building, was erected in the 1970s on Manhattan's posh Fifth Avenue under the shah of Iran. The shah was overthrown in the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
Tenants of the skyscraper include law and investment firms, among other businesses.
The sleek, modern building, last valued at $570million to $650million in 2007, has served as an important source of income for the foundation over the past 36 years.
The most recent tax records show the foundation earned $4.5million from rents in 2007.
Rents collected from the building help fund the Islamic centres and other ventures, such as sending educational books and other literature to jailed Muslims in the U.S.
The foundation has also invested in dozens of mosques around the country and supported Iranian academics at prominent universities.
If federal prosecutors seize the skyscraper, the Alavi Foundation would have almost no way to continue supporting the Islamic centres, which house schools and mosques.
That could leave a major void in Shiite communities, and hard feelings toward the FBI, which played a big role in the investigation.
'For two decades, the Alavi Foundation's affairs have been directed by various Iranian officials, including Iranian ambassadors to the United Nations, in violation of a series of American laws,' U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement.
Confiscating the properties would be a sharp blow against Iran, which has been accused by the U.S. government of bankrolling terrorism and trying to build a nuclear bomb.
Iran's U.N. Mission has not yet commented on the case.
So far no British link has emerged in the operation.
The Alavi Foundation is the successor organization to the Pahlavi Foundation, a non-profit group used by the shah to advance Iran's charitable interests in America.
But authorities said its agenda changed after the fall of the shah in 1979.
There were no raids yesterday as part of the forfeiture action. All the government had to do was post notices of the civil complaint on the property.
John D. Winter, the Alavi Foundation's lawyer, said it intends to fight back against the move.
He said the foundation has been co-operating with the government's investigation for the better part of a year.
'Obviously the foundation is disappointed that the government has decided to bring this action,' Mr Winter said.
It is extremely rare for U.S. law enforcement authorities to seize a house of worship. To do so immediately raises questions about the constitutional right to freedom of religion.
The move is also expected to inflame tensions between the U.S. government and American Muslims.
Many Muslims in the U.S. are already fearful of a backlash after last week's shooting rampage at Fort Hood military base, blamed on a Muslim American major.
'Whatever the details of the government's case against the owners of the mosques, as a civil rights organization we are concerned that the seizure of American houses of worship could have a chilling effect on the religious freedom of citizens of all faiths and may send a negative message to Muslims worldwide,' said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
'No action has been taken against any tenants or occupants of those properties,' U.S. attorney's office spokeswoman Yusill Scribner said.
'The tenants and occupants remain free to use the properties as they have before today's filing. There are no allegations of any wrongdoing on the part of any of these tenants or occupants.'
As prosecutors outlined their allegations against Alavi, the Islamic centres and the schools they run carried on as normal yesterday. The mosques' leaders would not comment on the case and accusations.
Parents lined up in their cars to pick up their children at the schools within the Islamic Education Center of Greater Houston and the Islamic Education Center in Rockville, Maryland.
No notices of the forfeiture action were posted at either place as of late last night.
At the Islamic Institute of New York, a mosque and school in the city's Queens borough, two U.S. marshals came to the door and rang the bell repeatedly.
When there was no answer, the marshals taped a forfeiture notice to the window and left a large document sitting on the ground. After they left a group of men came out of the building and took the document.
The fourth Islamic centre marked for seizure is in Carmichael, California.
The operation comes at a tense moment in U.S.-Iranian relations, with the two sides at odds over Iran's nuclear programme and its arrest of three American hikers.
But Michael Rubin, an expert on Iran at the American Enterprise Institute, said the timing of the forfeiture action was probably just a coincidence.
'Suspicion about the Alavi Foundation transcends three administrations,' Mr Rubin said.
'It's taken ages dealing with the nuts and bolts of the investigation. It's not the type of investigation which is part of any larger strategy.'
Legal scholars said they know of only a few cases in U.S. history in which authorities have seized a house of worship.
Marc Stern, a religious-liberty expert with the American Jewish Congress, called such cases extremely rare. --------
