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UN condemns Iran amid nuclear bomb fears

Posted on: Saturday, 24 September 2005, 14:13 CDT

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)

Source: REUTERS

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