BICOM

The UK, Israeli and other governments are working ‘fantastically closely together” to pressure Iran into giving up its disputed nuclear activities, John Davies, the Head of the Iran Group in the Foreign and Commonwealth office, said in an interview with Israeli Channel 2 News yesterday.

Davies said that when dealing with the issue of Iran’s nuclear programme, pressure would be made by a mixture of methods, but that for Britain at the moment the key was economic sanctions. When asked if he thought the US was “soft” on Iran, Davies indicated that not one person in Iran’s leadership perceived the US, UK or Israel as being “soft”, due to the “real pressure” Tehran felt from sanctions.

Davies added that the latest IAEA reports show why Western governments are so concerned about Iran’s nuclear programme and why the international community needs to move fast in inducing a policy change in Tehran. He suggested that pressure would continue to mount on Iran, but that we would only know if the strategy has worked if Iran “changes its mind.”

A team of UK officials, led by John Davies, were in Israel this week to meet with their Israeli counterparts for discussions on Iran’s nuclear programme.

At the end of January, Britain was at the fore when European Union foreign ministers adopted an unprecedented oil embargo against Iran over its nuclear programme, which will be implemented from July.