IAEA to report Iran to UN Security Council: diplomat

VIENNA (Reuters) – The U.N. nuclear watchdog’s board of
governors voted on Saturday to report Iran to the U.N. Security
Council over concerns Tehran is secretly seeking atomic
weapons, a diplomat said.

The diplomat said a European Union-sponsored resolution
aimed at increasing pressure on Iran to improve its cooperation
with an International Atomic Energy Agency probe of its nuclear
program was passed by the 35-nation IAEA board.

Twenty-seven members voted in favor of the motion, five
abstained and three voted against, a diplomat said.

The resolution also says Iran must reinstate a freeze of
activities related to small-scale enrichment of uranium. Iran
has so far disregarded calls for it to do so, pressing ahead
with uranium-processing and preparing for enrichment.

That process can make fuel for power plants or atomic
bombs.

Iran has threatened to respond to the move — initiated by
the United States, EU powers, Russia and China — by curbing
U.N. inspections of its nuclear facilities and scrapping talks
on a Russian compromise proposal.