G8 strong on Iran

L'AQUILA, Italy, July 9 (UPI) -- The Group of Eight nations have given Iran until September to agree to negotiations over its controversial nuclear program or face harsher sanctions.

G8 leaders will review Tehran's attitude at a G20 meeting in Pittsburg on Sept. 24-25, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Wednesday.

"If there is no progress by then we will have to take decisions," he said at the end of the first summit day in the Italian mountain city of L'Aquila.

The West believes Iran is using a civil nuclear energy program as a cover to build a nuclear bomb, a charge Tehran denies.

The United States recently made overtures for direct negotiations with the Islamic Republic, but the Iranian presidential election and its violent aftermath have slowed progress on the nuclear issue.

"The discussion reflected a collective impatience with Iran and a desire to see real response going forward," U.S. deputy national security adviser Michael Froman told reporters on a conference call.

On Thursday, the 10th anniversary of a bloody confrontation between students and the regime, Iran was seeing further clashes between protesters and police. A day earlier, the G8 nations had issued a statement condemning the violent crackdown on opposition demonstrators after the contested June 12 presidential election.

"G8 countries continued to be seriously concerned about recent events in Iran," the statement said. "Interference with media, unjustified detentions of journalists and recent arrests of foreign nationals are unacceptable."

Silently backed by the United States, European G8 nations -- Britain, France Germany and Italy -- are known to have lobbied for even harsher statements or sanctions against Tehran. They could not convince Russia, however.

"We made an effort to agree not to strengthen sanctions straightaway in order to bring everyone on board," Sarkozy said. "The more reserved amongst us agreed that Pittsburgh was the time for decisions."

It was all about climate protection on Thursday in L'Aquila, but G8 leaders as of early evening failed to convince major developing nations on ambitious reduction targets.

G8 nations had wanted to commit nations including India and China to agree to halve the world's carbon dioxide output by 2020, compared with 1990 levels.

Negotiators were trying instead to shoot for the more modest goal of keeping the world's average temperature from rising more than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon blamed the G8 nations for not setting more ambitious targets for themselves in Italy.

"The policies that they have stated so far are not enough," he said. "This is politically and morally (an) imperative and historic responsibility ... for the future of humanity, even for the future of the planet Earth."