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Key United States allies have begun debating whether to tolerate a less-than-full freeze by Iran of its uranium enrichment programme -- a stance that could put them at odds with Washington.
The officials -- U.S. and European diplomats and government employees -- said on Friday that the deliberations, involving senior British, French and German decision-makers, were preliminary, and that no conclusions had been drawn.
Germany was supportive, France opposed and Britain noncommittal, they said.
"Nothing is on paper," a European diplomat said, describing the tentative plan as a "freeze for peace."
Still, with the United States still insisting that any enrichment freeze be total, such consideration could put major strains on US-led attempts to show unity on the issue.
And it could potentially lead Washington to settle for less than it has been insisting on in attempts to ban the prospect of Iran having nuclear arms.
For the Europeans, though, a compromise would placate important EU members Italy and Spain and some smaller countries looking for more flexibility on how to define an enrichment freeze.
A US official said "there is some truth" to the reports of the discussions among the British, French and Germans, adding "We're still very skittish on that."
America has been counting on Britain, France and Germany in its four-year campaign to contain Iran's nuclear ambitions, specifically by getting it to abandon uranium enrichment, a programme that can create the fissile material for the core of nuclear warheads.
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