ARAB-US RELATIONS - Jan 14 - US Wants Sanctions To Target Iran's Leaders.

Any sanctions imposed on Iran over its nuclear programme will not target the Iranian people, the Bush administration says in a scathing attack on the Islamic republic's leadership. US State Sec Rice, gave assurances that scholars, musicians and athletes - a reference to Iran's World Cup soccer team - would not be penalised, as the US joined the three leading European powers in announcing their determination to refer Tehran to the UN Security Council over its plan to begin uranium enrichment. Rice would not be drawn on what kind of UN sanctions the US was considering. There was a "menu of possibilities", she told reporters in Washington. The Bush administration, which is looking at ways to support the Iranian opposition, made clear it wanted to target the leadership. Condemning the anti-Israeli comments of Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, Ms Rice said: He has increased Iran's isolation every time he has opened his mouth". Rice's statement comes after FMs from France, Germany and Britain declared that efforts by the so-called EU3 over the past two years to negotiate with Iran over its nuclear ambitions "had come to a dead end". The UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, said that Iran's chief negotiator Ali Larijani, told him that Tehran remained interested in "serious and constructive negotiations". But it wanted talks "within a timeframe", as "the last time they did it for two and a half years with no result", Annan said He initiated the telephone call, which lasted 40 minutes, but a senior UN official played down suggestions of an independent initiative by the secretary-general. Annan urged Iran to exercise restraint. "It is part of his continued efforts to keep the diplomatic process on track", said a UN official. Annan was due to brief the EU3, the US and Russia last night. But speaking in Berlin after a meeting of the countries' FMs, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, representing the hosts, said an extraordinary meeting of the board of governors of the IAEA, the UN's nuclear watchdog, would be convened "with a view to referring the issue to the Security Council". The step follows Tehran's decision this week to resume a "pilot project" to enrich uranium - the process that can lead to making weapons-grade material. Some diplomats describe Iran's activity as a "small production line", but Tehran has not yet begun enrichment, which takes time to set up. While Iran has maintained that its nuclear programme is peaceful, its recent actions have increased western suspicions that it is seeking a nuclear weapon. French FM Philippe Douste-Blazy, called on Russia and China, which have both been reluctant to involve the Security Council in the past, "to show greater awareness of the increased unity" in the international community. China called for Iran to return to talks and urged all parties to exercise restraint, while Russia urged Tehran to freeze its activities. Senior EU3 diplomats are to meet counterparts from China, Russia and the US in London on Monday. Other meetings were likely to follow, before the IAEA meeting was convened "within a few weeks", diplomats said.