The Foreign Secretary said on 15 November 2004:

'I welcome Iran's decision to support the agreement negotiated between the United Kingdom, France, Germany (the E3) and the Office of the EU High Representative and Iran in Paris on 6 November 2004. We believe that the conclusion of this agreement can both allow for confidence-building in respect of Iran's nuclear programme and represent a significant development in relations between Europe and Iran.

'It is essential now for the agreement to be implemented in full. We look forward to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reporting to the Board of Governors' meeting commencing on 25 November that Iran's voluntary suspension of all enrichment and reprocessing activities is in place as provided for in the agreement; and to the IAEA continuing to monitor the ongoing suspension.

'The UK, France, Germany, the EU High Representative and Iran have committed to commencing negotiations on a long-term agreement in the first half of December. These negotiations will cover political and security issues, technology and co-operation, and nuclear issues. There will be twin objectives for this process: to give us long-term objective guarantees that Iran's nuclear programme is purely for peaceful purposes; and to make progress on in a range of economic, technical and security issues where concrete co-operation and dialogue would reflect a genuine and important step in Iran's full engagement with the international community.'

Notes for Editors:

1. The agreement came into force on 15 November 2004.