Foreign Ministers of Britain, Jack Straw, of Germany, Joschka Fischer and of France, Dominique de Villepin paid a visit to Tehran on 21 October 2003 at the official invitation of the Iranian government. Following extensive consultations, the Iranian authorities and ministers agreed on measures aimed at the settlement of all outstanding issues of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) with regard to the Iranian nuclear program and enhancing confidence for peaceful cooperation in the nuclear field.

All peaceful nuclear activities by Iran including, uranium enrichment, are the inalienable right of the nation.

When this agreement was reached in Iran, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), Hassan Rowhani, traveled to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who in turn admired Iran for its full transparency before the IAEA and its peaceful nuclear program. Putin went on to say that this prudent step taken by Iran has helped regain the confidence of the international community, and pave the path for further cooperation on modern technology in the nuclear energy sector, more than previously seen.

During Rowhani’s visit to Moscow it was also agreed that in line with boosting mutual ties between Iran and Russia, President Putin will pay a visit to Tehran in the near future. Putin’s visit to Iran can be considered a turning point in bilateral economic, political and strategic relationships between Iran and Russia.

Just recently IAEA Director General Mohammad El Baradei presented the IAEA’s Board of Governs with a report on Iran’s nuclear activities. This report follows the full and accurate disclosure of Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities over the past 30 years. Even though El Baradei pointed out some technical failures, he announced that Iran’s nuclear activities are peaceful and there is absolutely no diversion from its peaceful program towards an un-peaceful program. El Baradei also pointed to the corrective measures taken to relieve the technical failures in Iran’s system.

The IAEA’s Board of Directors is schedule to convene a meeting on 20 November 2003 in which El Baradei’s report on Iran will be analyzed and discussed. It is expected that Iran’s issue will be solved in a comprehensive manner, which will prevent the further politicization of the matter. With accepting and signing the Additional Protocol to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran has gained the trust of the international community towards its peaceful nuclear activities.

The United States cannot ignore Iran’s significant status in the region and the country’s great potential in settling regional problems.

The Iranian authorities reaffirmed that nuclear weapons have no place in Iran’s defense doctrine and that its nuclear program and activities have been exclusively in the peaceful domain. They reiterated Iran’s commitment to the nuclear non-proliferation regime and informed the ministers that the Iranian government has decided to engage in full cooperation with the IAEA to address and resolve, through full transparency, all requirements and outstanding issues of the Agency, clarify and correct any possible failures and deficiencies within the IAEA.

They stressed the commitment of Iran’s government to promote confidence with a view to removing existing barriers for cooperation in the nuclear field. Having received the necessary clarifications, the Iranian government has decided to sign the IAEA Additional Protocol and commence ratification procedures. As a confirmation of its good intentions, the Iranian government will continue to cooperate with the Agency in accordance with the protocol in advance of its ratification. While Iran has a right within the nuclear non-proliferation regime to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, it has decided voluntarily to suspend all uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities as defined by the IAEA. The Foreign Ministers of Britain, France and Germany welcomed the decisions of the Iranian government and informed the Iranian authorities that their governments recognize the right of Iran to enjoy peaceful use of nuclear energy in accordance with the NPT. In their view, the Additional Protocol is in no way intended to undermine the sovereignty, national dignity or national security of its States Parties. According to the three European foreign ministers, the full implementation of Iran’s decisions, confirmed by the IAEA Director-General Mohammad El-Baradei should enable the immediate situation to be resolved by the IAEA Board of Governors.

The three governments believe that this will open the way to a dialogue on a basis for longer term cooperation, which will provide all parties with satisfactory assurances relating to Iran’s nuclear power generation program. Once international concerns, including those of the three governments, are fully resolved, Iran could expect easier access to modern technology and supplies in a range of areas. They will cooperate with Iran to promote security and stability in the region, including the establishment of a zone free from weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East in accordance with the objectives of the United Nations.

Prime Minister Tony Blair praised the success of the unprecedented mission to Tehran. "I think that the foreign ministers did an excellent job and there is now an agreement by Iran that they will comply fully with the atomic energy authorities," he said at his monthly press conference. The mission was seen as the first EU test to turn the tide against U.S. unilateralism in its military domination of the world following the bitter disputes over the war against Iraq, in which Britain sided with the U.S. against France and Germany. IAEA head Mohammad El-Baradei described a settlement with Iran as a "win-win situation" and said it could lead to a "new chapter in the relationship between Iran and the West, particularly Europe." But like Iraq, doubts have emerged about Britain’s determination to stick with the EU diplomatic track and not to side with U.S. posturing.

German parliamentary deputies across the political spectrum expressed satisfaction with the recently signed nuclear agreement between Iran and the European Union. "This negotiation style (in Iran) could serve as model for solving the other nuclear dispute in North Korea," said MP of the governing Social Democratic Party, Uta Zapf, during her speech in the German Parliament. She added that the agreement was a "great success of a wise dialogue-and negotiation diplomacy". Meanwhile a deputy of the opposition Christian Democrats, Ruprecht Polenz, urged "comprehensive disarmament talks" for the Middle East region following the latest European-Iranian nuclear accord. Another MP of the liberal Free Democrats (FDP), Harald Leibrecht, said Europe’s Iran initiative was an example of how a unified European foreign policy could look like.

Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi termed the talks between Iran and the foreign ministers of Britain, Germany and France as "positive". The United States also assessed Iran’s decision on nuclear activities as a positive step and therefore it should not take such measures as to fall behind Europe with regards to Iran’s nuclear programs. "All countries including Italy, as the present chair of the European Union, welcomed the accord between Iran and the three important European countries," he added. He stressed that one should not ignore Iran’s positive and constructive steps and said both sides are discussing the date of signing the Additional Protocol to the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Asked whether recent remarks by U.S. President George W. Bush, who welcomed Iran’s agreement to sign the NPT additional protocol, would be a starting point for settlement of Iran-U.S. problems, he said, "It depends on the United States to what extent it tries to settle problems with Iran."

"The United States cannot ignore Iran’s significant status in the region and the country’s great potential in settling regional problems," the Minister stressed. "If the U.S. government is wise, it will make use of Iran’s potential in settling regional problems and issues and if not, it will loose such a capacity," he added. Touching upon Iran’s expectations regarding ties with Europe after agreement on the NPT Additional Protocol, Kharrazi said, "Iran and Europe enjoy great potential for cooperation and bilateral ties would receive a boost after removing such difference." He stressed that three European countries agreed with Iran on cooperation in various fields including transfer of modern technology. "Iran is ready to expand cooperation with Europe and will continue talks in this regard," Kharrazi said. Asked to what extent one can trust the policies of the European states particularly Britain, the minister said, "The world of politics is based on trust. Europe, particularly Britain, France and Germany have made great efforts for Iran’s agreement to join the NPT protocol".

The third issue is Iran’s concerns that the additional protocol will not harm the national interests and prestige, which the EU foreign ministers also approved and the point is also mentioned in the declaration. "The European foreign ministers agreed that the protocol should not threaten the sovereignty and prestige of Iran. The EU officials agreed to be more active in the region’s security. Iran warned them that Israel is the ominous threat to the region and it is our goal to establish a nuclear-free Middle East. "We stressed on the pivotal European role to lessen the nuclear threat and they agreed, saying they will cooperate with Iran on the matter," declared Rowhani. Elsewhere in his statements, he said Iran will continue talks with the Europeans with the aim of bolstering confidence to forge closer relations. He further said some powers want Iran-IAEA tension to remain and even strove to take the issue off the hand of the nuclear watchdog body and bring it to the fore of international arenas. "Our agreement with the Europeans means that the issue should be settled within the IAEA framework and they also, in an article in the joint declaration stress this point," he noted. On the general trend in Iran-Europe relations, Rowhani said, "On the whole Europe recognizes our rights and national security concerns in the goal of expansion of bilateral ties and cessation of tensions. "Iran agreed to the additional protocol on the condition that its national interest will not be infringed upon. "As we told the Europeans we do not do this to placate the IAEA but to end tensions and build confidence." The signing on to the protocol is the first step after which the legal process has to take its course and is up to the Majlis to be the final authority on the issue, said Rowhani. "Iran and IAEA are cooperating and hopefully in the upcoming weeks ambiguities will be removed in order to reach the desired stage in our relations," the secretary of SNSC underlined.

IAEA spokesman Mark Gwozdecky said that IAEA Director General Mohammad El Baradei is quite optimistic about Iran’s cooperation with IAEA. Gwozdecky added that Iran announced its readiness to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Additional Protocol during El Baradei’s recent visit to Tehran. Iranian officials had expressed their will for cooperation with the IAEA, while underlining their legal rights to peaceful application of nuclear energy. Iran has called for clarification of the ambiguities on the impact of signing the NPT Additional Protocol and has pointed out several times that it will ink the document once light is shed on all the dark points in this respect. The IAEA Board of Governors has set 31 October as the deadline for Iran to present the required complementary information on its nuclear program to the agency. Meanwhile, Iran is not committed to meet the deadline in view of its rejection of the resolution issued by the IAEA Board of Governors as illegal. Some experts believe that Iran may even provide the agency with the required information before the deadline, once it is assured of future access to modern nuclear technology. Given Iran’s constant emphasis that it will not ignore its right to peaceful use of nuclear technology, if the visit of the three EU foreign ministers ends up in Iran’s access to its requested modern technology, it will be a great success.

Referring to the correct steps being taken to the effect, de Villepin noted that Britain, Germany and France feel committed to take measures in coordination with other European countries. For his part, the British Foreign Minister Jack Straw, echoing the remarks of his French counterpart, said that "Fortunately, it turned out to enable us to protect mutual respect as well as the dignity and independence of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The dignity and independence of all countries, including Iran, is significant for us and this has been pointed out in the joint statement issued at the end of today’s negotiations," he added. He reiterated that the EU countries have no intention of violating Iran’s dignity, security and independence. "All EU member states have already inked and implemented the Additional Protocol without having their security, dignity and independence violated," he added.

The German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer also underlined the importance of this day, given the accord reached on a very crucial matter. "We feel ourselves committed to settle the problems. Today’s agreement is a serious starting point for the settlement of the difficulties facing Iran and the international community and helps restore further stability in the region," he added. He noted that the signing and quick implementation of the Additional Protocol, suspension of the process of uranium enrichment and its recycling by Iran is highly important.

For his part, Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi termed talks with his British, German and French counterparts as "very good and satisfactory". "In talks with the French, British and German foreign ministers, I stressed transparency of Iran’s previous and future nuclear activities since we do not seek illegal programs but our rights should be preserved," Kharrazi said. "Our legitimate rights should be respected and our dignity and security should be preserved," he added.