With no results to show despite two weeks of intense parleys on Iran nuclear crisis, a deadlocked UN Security Council has put off a formal closed-door meeting to give the members more time to iron out differences over a tough Franco-British statement. | |
| The meeting of all 15 members of the council, scheduled for late last night, was put off by the five permanent members as Russia, backed by China, was pitted against other veto-wielding powers, the US, Britain and France, over the language of the text on Tehran's suspected nuclear weapons ambitions. |
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| Britain and France had drafted a tough presidential statement which expressed concern over Iran's nuclear programme, ask it to suspend uranium enrichment plans and call on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to report back to the council within two weeks. |
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| But Russia sees in it seeds of sanctions against Tehran and wants the council to issue only a small statement reaffirming political support to the IAEA. It also wants the security council to let the agency handle the issue. |
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| Amid signs of dejection in diplomats taking part in the negotiations, western diplomats insisted they were still hopeful that some common ground could be found. |
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| But Moscow made it clear that chances of it backing off from its stance were remote. Russia would like the IAEA to continue to play the main role in persuading Iran to give up its uranium enrichment programme but the US and its western allies want to send a strong signal to Tehran. |
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| Iran says its nuclear programme is for purely peaceful purposes and it intends to produce fuel for its civilian atomic power plants but the US and its allies believe it is a camouflage for producing nuclear weapons. |
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| Top foreign policy officials of the five permanent members and Germany, whose diplomat had met them on Monday night, apparently failed to narrow down differences over the Franco-British statement. |
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| A presidential statement in the UNSC requires consent of all members, and diplomats said if the efforts failed, the only alternative for the western allies would be to bring a resolution and to deter Russia and China from vetoing it. |
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| This course might not prove to be productive either as it would bring out sharp divisions among the major powers if veto is used. |
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| US President George Bush, who has offered to talk to Iran on what he sees as its meddling in Iraq, has made it clear that the nuclear issue is not on the agenda. Those talks would be led by the three European Union powers. |
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| "Our negotiations with Iran on the nuclear weapons will be led by the EU-3," Bush said, adding, "And that's important because the Iranians must hear there's a unified voice." |
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| "If the Iranians were to have a nuclear weapon they could blackmail the world" because "they're not heading toward the international accords, they're not welcoming the international inspections...," Bush added. |
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