France: 'Now or never' for Iran

(CNN) -- It is "now or never" for Iran to assure the international community that it wants to play a role in stabilizing the region, France's foreign minister said Wednesday.

"If Iran wants to play an important part in this region of the world, then our message to them is that (this) is the moment to show it -- now or never," Philippe Douste-Blazy said, according to a translation from Reuters News Agency.

"This is the moment for them to show that this region can be stabilized. If they don't do that, well then they take the risk of isolating themselves from the international community, as I have said repeatedly."

Russia has signaled that it is still wary of taking any action against Iran if it fails to comply with a U.N. Security Council Resolution calling for it to halt its nuclear activity by August 31.

"It is premature to speak of any sanctions against Iran because the deadline set by Resolution 1696 of the U.N. Security Council has not yet come," foreign ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said on Russia's Vesti-24 television channel, according to Interfax news agency.

The United States is still studying Iran's response to a package of incentives, offered by the U.N. Security Council's permanent members and Germany, in an effort to get the Islamic republic to back off its uranium enrichment program.

On Tuesday, Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, said his country was willing to immediately resume talks about its nuclear program, but he did not address the thorny issue of whether Iran would suspend enrichment activities.

The U.S. House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday released a report on Iran's nuclear threat, calling on U.S. policymakers to "carefully evaluate" Iran's response, as well as its past behavior, to determine "whether Tehran would abide by a new agreement curtailing its nuclear weapons program or would attempt to exploit a new agreement to advance its weapons program."

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