TALLBERG, Sweden - Former U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix said Tuesday the best way to make Iran cease nuclear activities is for the United States to guarantee that it won't seek regime change in the country.
Blix told The Associated Press that European negotiators were capable of handling nuclear talks with Iran without U.S. involvement, but that Washington could help by stating clearly it has no plans to topple the Iranian government.
"The most important factor would be to guarantee the Iranians that their territorial integrity" won't be breached, Blix said on the sidelines of an international forum of 400 political and business leaders in the Swedish village of Tallberg.
"For Iran, which feels subjected to American pressure, to refrain from enrichment (of uranium), they probably want some kind of declaration that they are not subjected to any risks _ either an attack across the border or via cruise missiles, or that the CIA or someone else tries any subversive measures to change the regime," Blix said.
Blix called Iran's threat to resume uranium processing in Isfahan "unfortunate" but said it's still unclear whether the country intends to develop nuclear weapons, or is simply putting increased pressure on the EU negotiators.
"It could be a part of the diplomatic game, but it could also be that the new regime has decided that they're gonna move ahead with enrichment (of uranium)," Blix said.
He doubted whether it would be effective to ask the U.N. Security Council to impose stronger sanctions on Iran.
"That requires that both the Russians and the Chinese go along with it, and I have a very hard time believing that the Security Council would adopt any major ways to pressure Iran to refrain from something they haven't proven is a crime," he said.
Blix, a former Swedish foreign minister, led the U.N. weapons inspectors in Iraq before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. He now heads a Stockholm-based independent commission on weapons of mass destruction.
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