EU ministers to debate measures against Iran

LUXEMBOURG, Apr 10 (Reuters) European foreign ministers will review today options for possible restrictive measures against Iran, including eventual financial sanctions, if Tehran continues to defy calls to halt sensitive nuclear activity.

But European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who drafted a confidential options paper for the 25 ministers, and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw insisted it was just a contingency planning exercise and sanctions were not imminent.

''It's a comprehensive paper for discussion today. It sets out a range of options but makes no recommendations. We don't expect any decision today,'' an EU official said before the start of Monday's talks in Luxembourg, on condition of anonymity.

Among possible measures envisaged in the paper, first reported by Britain's Financial Times, are travel bans on Iranian officials, an end to export credit guarantees for European companies doing business with Tehran and restrictions on young Iranians studying sensitive technologies in Europe.

Solana told reporters the plan was not for an immediate imposition of sanctions.

''No, what we are doing today is a reflection on what may happen if at the end of the day what is going (on) now in the UN Security Council does fail,'' Solana said.

''Then there would have to be some decision taken. Today is a day of reflection, not a day of action,'' he said. ''We have plenty of time but we have to be prepared just in case they fail.'' Asked whether a visa ban on Iranian officials was among the possibilities, he replied: ''There are many things, (a) visa ban is a classical type of measure.'' ''OUT OF THE TABLE'' Britain's Straw told reporters on arrival: ''We're looking at the issue, but entirely on a contingency basis.

''The Security Council's presidential statement has given Iran 30 days to reconsider its position and we hope very much this matter can be resolved both by diplomatic means and also without the need for sanctions,'' he said.

Solana dismissed a report in the New Yorker magazine that the US administration was stepping up plans for a possible air strike on Iran.

''I think it has nothing to do with reality,'' he said. ''Any military action is absolutely out of the table for us.'' The White House, without denying the report, reiterated that it was pursuing a diplomatic solution to the nuclear row.

The EU ministers are due to adopt a statement on Iran today, again calling on the country to cooperate with the United Nations nuclear agency and suspend uranium enrichment activities and criticising Iran's human rights record.

The statement will also reiterate the European Union's preference for a negotiated solution and would not mention possible restrictive measures, diplomats said.

The document drawn up by Solana was circulated to ministers at their request after their regular meeting in March.

The EU official stressed it had nothing to do with media reports of the United States contemplating military action.

The idea was to anticipate what might happen if Iran did not comply with calls from the U.N. Security Council and the International Atomic Energy Agency to halt enrichment activities, the official said.

Straw yesterday said a military strike against Iran was not on the agenda and the United States was committed to a negotiated solution.

He told BBC television the idea that Washington could launch a nuclear strike against Iran was ''completely nuts''.

REUTERS SHR PM1522