The Council adopted the following conclusions on the confrontation between Iran and the international community.

Firstly, the Council states that the Iranian authorities have failed to comply with the requests made by the Agency’s Board of Governors and the UN Security Council and have also failed to actively cooperate with the Agency to clarify the outstanding issues, including those that may have a military dimension. Moreover, it deeply regrets the failure of the Iranian authorities to take the steps deemed essential by the IAEA Board and the UN Security Council as well as their threats to maintain this failure into the future. It calls on the Iranian authorities to cooperate fully with the IAEA, suspend all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development, and to suspend the construction of a reactor moderated by heavy water in order to create conditions in which negotiations might resume. The EU fully supports the Security Council making this mandatory.

The Council reaffirms the right of Iran to the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes in conformity with its obligations under the NPT. Building on the proposals of August 2005 as confirmed by the Council in its February 2006 conclusions, the EU would be prepared to support Iran’s development of a safe, sustainable and proliferation-proof civilian nuclear programme, if international concerns were fully addressed and confidence in Iran's intentions established. The EU hopes that Iran will not fail to take up such an offer. At the same time, the EU is determined to preserve the effectiveness of the multilateral non-proliferation system. The Council stresses the importance of exercising the utmost vigilance in the application of existing export control mechanisms for sensitive material so as to prevent the transfer of goods, technology and materials that might be used, directly or indirectly, in fissile material programmes and missile programmes.

The Council remains deeply concerned about the human rights situation in Iran, which is at variance with universal principles and Iran's specific obligations. It expresses its concern about the increasing number of executions, arbitrary detentions, the growing restrictions on access to information, the increasing violations of freedom of speech and religion, especially concerning the situation of the Sufi and Baha’i communities, as well as the intimidation and harassment of human rights defenders, lawyers and minority groups. The Council is seriously concerned about the detention of the Iranian philosopher Dr. Ramin Jahanbegloo. The Council calls upon Iranian authorities not to penalize Iranian citizens for their contacts with Europeans, including embassies, universities and cultural institutes.

The Council remains committed to finding a diplomatic solution. The EU would like to be able to develop relations with Iran based on confidence and cooperation. The alternative is that Iran chooses further isolation. The Council therefore calls on the Iranian authorities to urgently take the necessary decisions required for the development of such relations with the European Union and the international community. The Council also expects Iran to contribute to regional stability.

The Council adopted conclusions welcoming the UN Security Council Presidential Statement of 29 March, which reinforced the role of the IAEA and called upon Iran to take the steps required by the IAEA Board of Governors, which are essential to build confidence in the exclusively peaceful purpose of its nuclear programme.

The Council remains committed to a diplomatic solution. It calls on Iran to comply with the UN Security Council Presidential Statement and implement all IAEA Board resolutions in full and to suspend all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development, to allow a return to negotiations.

The Council underlines its continued concerns about the human rights situation in Iran, in particular regarding the situation of Bahá'ís and other religious minorities as well as of human rights defenders, including Mr. Akbar Ganji and Mr. Abdolfattah Soltani.

The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the confrontation between Iran and the international community. It was responding both to public statements by President Ahmadinejad denying Israel's right to exist and the reality of the Holocaust, and to Iran’s decision to resume uranium-conversion activities at its Isfahan facility on 10 January 2006.

Parliament recalled that the IAEA resolution of 4 February 2006 referred to the "absence of confidence" in the peaceful purposes of Iran's nuclear programme and that the IAEA had reiterated its concern about the continuing gaps in its understanding of many proliferation-sensitive aspects of Iran's nuclear programme. The latter had also offered different solutions, including that of enriching uranium in Russia, but Iran failed to make clear its position on those proposals. On 30 January 2006, China, France, Germany, Russia, the UK and the US and the High Representative of the EU agreed that an extraordinary IAEA Board meeting should report to the UN Security Council, which would defer any action until after the IAEA Director General's report to the Board meeting of 6 March 2006 and any IAEA resolution adopted at that meeting. The Iranian government subsequently announced that it would cease all voluntary cooperation with the IAEA and that it would allow no further unannounced IAEA inspections on Iranian nuclear premises.

Parliament condemned President Ahmadinejad's threatening remarks against Israel, which did not inspire confidence in the Iranian Government's intentions to adopt a peaceful and constructive role in the Middle East. It also criticised President Ahmadinejad's recent meeting with representatives of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and expressed its deep concern about the present attitude of the Iranian authorities to Iran's nuclear programme, notably to the removal of seals at several nuclear installations, and its decision to resume enrichment-related activities.

It considered that it was necessary for Iran to re-establish the full suspension of all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, to reconsider the construction of a research reactor moderated by heavy water, to ratify promptly and resume full implementation of the Additional Protocol and, in general terms, to implement the transparency measures requested by the IAEA Director General.

Parliament reaffirmed that Iran had the right to develop a nuclear programme in conformity with Article IV of the NPT but reiterated its call on the Iranian Government to refrain from threatening any state and to act with respect for the principles of the Charter of the United Nations. The involvement of the UN Security Council constituted a necessary step on the road to assessing the present situation.

Parliament called on all the parties involved to do their utmost to make progress towards a negotiated settlement of the nuclear dispute before the IAEA Director General's report to the Board meeting of 6 March 2006. It stressed the importance of cooperation with the USA, Russia, China and non-aligned countries in order to consider complementary action with a view to achieving a comprehensive agreement with Iran concerning its nuclear facilities and their use, which takes account of Iran's security concerns.

Iran should consider seriously the Russian uranium enrichment process proposal, shared by the E3, which would allow Iran to advance its nuclear programme within a multilateral framework. Such a solution must be acknowledged as a proposed improvement to the present rules, under IAEA control, for any interested countries. Parliament called on the EU to support proposals to achieve multilateral administration of uranium enrichment, for example for the Middle Eastern Region, with distribution placed under the control of the IAEA.

It called on Iran to take advantage of its enormous energy reserves and technological know-how in order to invest in the development of renewable energies and the modern and rational use of fossil energies. Finally, Parliament took the view that the establishment of a zone free of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East could be an important step towards meeting the security concerns of the countries of that region.