The UN nuclear watchdog today put off taking Iran to the UN Security Council to give time for new Russian diplomacy but the US warned that referral would happen soon if Tehran did not meet its non-proliferation obligations. | |
| India has been opposing the Iran nuclear issue being referred to the Security Council and had expressed hope that a way would emerge to reconcile Tehran's need for using nuclear energy for development with the world community's concern over its proliferation. |
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| The European Union, the lead nuclear negotiator with Iran, agreed to give iran more time for talks, Peter Jenkins, British ambassador to the watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told reporters. |
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| Talks on a Russian proposal to allow Iran to conduct uranium enrichment -- but in Russia and not in Iran in order to keep Tehran from obtaining nuclear technology crucial in making nuclear weapons -- will now take centre-stage. |
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| The IAEA's 35-nation board of governors was meeting in Vienna to review progress since September 24, when it found Iran in non-compliance with the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), a finding that requires eventual referral to the Security Council for possible international sanctions. |
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| The EU-Iran talks collapsed in August when Tehran broke a suspension of uranium conversion, the first step in making enriched uranium that is fuel for nuclear power reactors but can also be the explosive core of atom bombs. |
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| Speaking for the EU presidency, Jenkins warned Iran against making any "unilateral moves" to increase its atomic activities. He said Britain "reserves the right" to call a special session, if it felt it necessary, of the IAEA, ahead of the next scheduled meeting in March, to consider referral. |
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| German Ambassador Herbert Honsowitz said the concern over unilateral moves was "particularly true regarding threats to start enrichment. |
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| It must be absolutely clear that this would immediately put an end to our efforts." US Ambassador Gregory Schulte said, "The board cannot and should not have unlimited patience if we seek to re-establish confidence about Iran's programme." |
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| The US backs the European Union call "to defer for a short period the required report to the Security Council." |
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| But "Iran must understand that the report to the Security Council is required and will be made at a time of this board's choosing," Schulte said, according to a copy of his speech distributed to journalists. |
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| The EU and Washington charge that Iran is, despite its denials, using its drive towards atomic energy for electricity generation as a cover for developing nuclear weapons. |
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| In Tehran, Iran claimed victory. "The US defeated over sending Iranian dossier to the Security Council," trumpeted the headline in the conservative daily Jomhuri Islami. |
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| Jenkins said the EU had "acceded to the request of several board members who have asked for more time for diplomatic dialogue on the future of Iran's nuclear programme." |
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| China and Russia, both with strong economic ties to Iran, oppose referral as do non-aligned states, which insist on Iran's right, according to the NPT, to work on the nuclear fuel cycle. |
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