The New Nation - Internet Edition

Reuters, Paris

Germany and France said on Thursday Iran's nuclear program was still a threat and the search for more U.N. sanctions should go on despite a U.S. intelligence report that Tehran was no longer trying to build an atomic bomb.

EU and NATO foreign ministers, meeting for separate talks in Brussels, agreed there was no reason to change their position of threatening sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, Belgian Foreign Affairs Minister Karel de Gucht said.

Speaking at a joint news conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the existing dual track policy of preparing sanctions against Tehran while leaving the door open to negotiations should go on.

"I think that we are in a process and that Iran still poses a threat," Merkel said, adding that talks between EU mediator Javier Solana and Iran's top nuclear negotiator should continue.

Sarkozy said he fully agreed with Merkel, adding: "What has made Iran move until now is sanctions and firmness."

The U.S. National Intelligence Estimate published on Monday said Iran had stopped its nuclear weapons program four years ago. It said Iran was continuing to develop the technical means that could be applied to producing weapons.