Russia against referring Iran to UN Security Council

By Maria Golovnina

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia said on Monday it opposed
reporting Iran to the U.N. Security Council over its nuclear
program, as signs emerged that European support for such a
measure could be waning.

U.S. and European Union officials have said they will push
for Iran’s nuclear case to be sent to the Security Council —
which has the power to impose sanctions — if Tehran does not
halt all nuclear fuel work and resume negotiations with the EU.

“In these circumstances we see no reason why the question
should be sent to the U.N. (Security Council),” the Russian
Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Russia has been criticized by Washington for building a
nuclear plant in Iran, but is a permanent member of the Council
and can use its veto to block any move against Iran. The United
States, Britain, China and France are the other permanent
members who wield vetoes on the Security Council.

Iran, which denies wanting nuclear weapons as suspected by
Washington and the European Union, angered the EU by resuming
uranium processing work at a plant in Isfahan — a move which
led EU officials to threaten the Security Council referral.

But on Monday, senior British and German officials toned
down their rhetoric and called for more diplomacy.

Wolfgang Gerhardt, who could become Germany’s foreign
minister after the September 18 general election, said Iran
should not be referred to the Security Council.

“The Iran negotiations are not yet a topic for the Security
Council, rather the negotiations should be revived,” he said.

Separately, a senior British government official, speaking
on condition of anonymity, said the Council’s task was to
reinforce diplomatic efforts to resolve the impasse rather than
“take a punitive approach.”

“We disagree with the Russians on what they’ve said so far
and we’ll take forward these discussions,” he said. “The Prime
Minister (Tony Blair) will probably raise this in China and
we’ll see where we are at the end of this week.”

RUSSIANS AND EUROPEANS

Russia has long warned against using force to stop Tehran’s
nuclear program and called for diplomatic ways to settle
disagreements. At the same time Russia has called on Iran to
halt uranium conversion and improve ties with U.N. nuclear
watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Diplomats in Moscow said Russia’s staunch pro-Iranian
position stemmed from its unwillingness to lose a key ally in
the Middle East and an important market for nuclear technology.

“Russia has its own economic interests. Referring its key
client to the Council would automatically cancel all of its
lucrative contracts with Iran,” said one diplomat. “Besides
Moscow would never miss a chance to irritate the Americans.”

Russia has built a $1 billion nuclear power plant for Iran
near the southern port of Bushehr, due to be launched next
year.

A report by IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei, circulated to
diplomats last week, said the agency was still not able to say
Iran had no secret nuclear materials or activities. The IAEA
board is due to meet on September 19 to discuss Iran.

European negotiators have set no deadline for Iran to
reinstate its suspension due to what EU diplomats said was
uncertainty over achieving consensus on the issue.

“A majority referral by the United States and the Europeans
with big players like the Russians and the Chinese opposed
would be politically dead on arrival at the Security Council in
New York,” one diplomat said.

Some suggested that Iran wanted to hold a separate meeting
with top U.N. and IAEA officials before September 19 to offer a
new proposal aimed at ending the stand-off, in a move likely to
lead to further delays in referring Iran to the Council.

Another diplomat said Iran “wanted to internationalize the
current negotiations” by proposing to invite other countries
like Russia, China, India or South Africa to join the talks.

The diplomat said that could “rescue the Iranian nuclear
project in a ‘legitimate’ way from the constraints of the Paris
Agreement” under which Tehran agreed to suspend nuclear work
under a deal with the EU negotiators in November 2004.

(Additional reporting by Paul Taylor in Brussels, Louis
Charbonneau in Berlin and Madeline Chambers in London)