Ignore the economic price of isolating Iran
from the world because the entire world is under threat, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is expected to tell the foreign ministers of the European Union meeting in Brussels on Monday evening.
Although Livni is encouraged by the EU's stance to expand the economic sanctions
on Iran, Israel's greatest fear is that there are still countries in Europe pondering the issue.
| Iranian Stance |
|
| Iran says atomic work has 'no reverse gear' / Reuters |
|
Ahmadinejad compares his country's nuclear drive to a train which has no brakes. Iranian deputy foreign minister says Tehran is ready for any possible scenario 'even for war' |
| Full story |
|
|
|
These countries usually have diverse economic ties with Iran, and are careful not to expand the sanctions despite Tehran's ongoing nuclear program and Security Council Resolution 1737.
In her meeting with Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema, Livni also discussed the Lebanon
issue. D'Alema said several weeks ago that Hizbullah
was rearming itself, but only north of the Litani River.
Livni stressed that any rearming of Hizbullah constituted a violation of Security Council Resolution 1701. She also said that this would create problems both for Israel and for the multinational force in Lebanon led by Italy.
Livni demanded that the Italian foreign minister take drastic steps against Hizbullah's rearming, as well as continue the international activity for the release of the kidnapped Israeli soldiers.
Livni, German foreign minister and EU commissioner (Photo: AP)
During her visit to Brussels, Livni met with Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, whose country chairs the sanction committee against Iran established by the United Nations' Security Council.
On Monday evening she is expected to meet with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Germany is the current president.
The foreign minister's meetings will continue Tuesday morning. In her meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Livni plans to discuss the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit and the tensions roused by an Israeli film claiming
that the unit under Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer's command in the Six Day War was responsible for the killing of 250 unarmed Egyptian POWs.
RSS
