Given “agreement” a “document for examination” regarding sanctions against Iran could be ready by the end of February. This was what Minister Franco Frattini said in a report to the joint Upper and Lower House Foreign Affairs Committees, specifying that “worries are increasing” along with “the urgency of international pressure with a strategy of sanctions that the UN Security Council I hope will begin examining within a few weeks”.
Even for China, Frattini pointed out “the problem of Iranian nuclear power, and not only civilian, will be a serious one and China is aware of that”, because “it cannot run the risk of being surrounded by North Korea and Iran”. It is a “rich and pragmatic country and will realise that sooner or later Iranian nuclear power will end up being problematic for its interests as well”.
In any case, Frattini explained, “we are still hoping that diplomacy will have the last word. We are hoping also for an end to this constant push-pull, one day open and the next day closed”. Frattini then cited the work being done by Turkey in recent hours through the mediation of his Turkish colleague Davutoglu: “I hope that my Turkish colleague will get the go ahead from the authorities for the transfer of enriched uranium through Turkish territory”. If this does not happen, he concluded, “there will be no margin if not for a UN Security Council action”.
The Minister then announced that a hundred or so Iranian Basij had organised a “hostile” demonstration in front of the Italian embassy, and an attempted assault on the mission”, hurling anti-Italy and anti-Berlusconi slogans. The Iranian police were, nevertheless, able to “avoid an actual assault” and the embassy “remains open”. He then announced that Italy would not be sending its ambassador to the demonstrations for the Islamic revolution on 11 February, warning that scenes of violence against civilians could not be “tolerated” and expressing his hopes in “the international community’s broad-based solidarity” with “all those who intend to demonstrate peacefully against the regime”.