UN condemns Iran amid nuclear bomb fears

By Louis Charbonneau and Francois Murphy

VIENNA (Reuters) – The U.N. nuclear watchdog passed a
resolution on Saturday requiring that Iran be reported to the
Security Council for failing to convince the international
community that its nuclear program was entirely peaceful.

The International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) governing
board approved the resolution despite threats by Iran to begin
enriching uranium and curtail IAEA inspections.

The resolution was drafted by Britain, France and Germany
and backed by the United States, but it was watered down by the
EU trio who had wanted Iran to be referred to the Council now.

With 22 votes for, one against and 12 abstentions, the
outcome also highlighted the split between Western nations and
others such as Russia, China and South Africa, which disagree
with the EU three and Washington on how to deal with Iran.

Iran denies it is seeking atomic bombs and says its nuclear
program is only for generating electricity. But it concealed
its atomic fuel program from the IAEA for 18 years.

IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei said the vote was a valid
decision supported by a majority but added that the
international divide was worrying.

“I was deeply disturbed by the lack of any mention of arms
control and disarmament at the (U.N.) summit in New York last
week. And today I see also a divided board. That is not the way
I should hope we would continue to proceed,” he said.

IRAN WILL ANNOUNCE RESPONSE

Iran’s top delegate to the meeting said the West had
failed.

“The United Sates and United Kingdom wanted … to send the
case to the U.N. Security Council now. And at this session,
they failed,” Javad Vaeedi told reporters.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told
ISNA students news agency: “This resolution has no legal basis
and is unacceptable … Iran’s answer will be announced after
the return of the Iranian team from Vienna and necessary
reviews.”

The resolution requires that Tehran be reported to the
Security Council at an unspecified date, meaning Iran would
probably not be referred until the IAEA board meets in November
at the earliest, diplomats say.

The U.N. Security Council can impose sanctions on Iran, but
Russia and China as permanent members hold veto powers.

EU diplomats, however, said the vote was a victory for
Western efforts to ratchet up the pressure on Tehran as China
and Russia, which had strongly opposed the EU text, abstained.

“This resolution shows the international community’s
concern about Iran’s non-cooperation regarding the
non-proliferation rules,” French Foreign Minister Philippe
Douste-Blazy said.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the EU hoped Iran
would re-instate the suspension of sensitive nuclear work it
ended last month and would resume talks with the EU.

“Iran has an opportunity now to address the clear concerns
of the IAEA, and the lack of confidence in Iran’s nuclear
intentions,” he said in a statement.

U.S. mission spokesman Matt Boland told reporters India’s
vote for the resolution showed it shared international “concern
with Iran’s established pattern of deception.”

George Perkovich of the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace said India’s vote indicated “it is taking
its international leadership seriously and also doesn’t want to
jeopardize the nuclear cooperation the U.S. is offering them.”

Russia is building a $1 billion nuclear reactor at Bushehr
in Iran and has much to gain from Iran’s plans to develop
atomic energy. China, which needs Iran’s gas and oil for its
own booming economy, also opposes the Western drive against
Iran.

Both countries fear a U.N. referral will cause the standoff
over Iran’s program to escalate into an international crisis.

The resolution, which diplomats said was prepared in close
consultation with Washington, said Iran’s “many failures and
breaches” of its nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)
Safeguards Agreement constituted “non-compliance” with the
pact.

It said there was an “absence of confidence” that Iran’s
atomic program was exclusively peaceful and this gave rise to
questions “within the competence of the Security Council.”

Tehran has threatened to retaliate.

Diplomats said on Friday the Iranian delegation had shown
some board members and ElBaradei two unsigned letters. One said
Iran would begin enriching uranium, a process that produces
fuel for atomic power plants or weapons, at an underground
facility at Natanz. The second letter said Tehran would end
short-notice inspections under a special NPT protocol.

When asked about these letters, Vaeedi declined to comment.

(Additional reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta in Paris, Parisa
Hafezi in Tehran and Alison Williams in London)