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UN watchdog meets on Iran in Security Council prelude
Updated: 2006-03-06 09:06
The UN atomic watchdog's board of governors meets on Monday to weigh Iran's
snub of calls to curb nuclear activity, opening the way to possible UN Security
Council action over concerns Tehran covertly seeks atom bombs.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei will submit
a report to the 35-nation meeting saying Iran has largely ignored a resolution
demanding that it take steps to defuse a crisis of confidence in its nuclear
program.
Iran's chief
nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani smiles before the start of a news
conference in Tehran March 5, 2006. Iran on Sunday dismissed calls that it
stop nuclear research and vowed to resume industrial-scale atomic fuel
production if the U.N. Nuclear watchdog ships Iran's case to the Security
Council. [Reuters] |
ElBaradei's report will be forwarded to the Security Council after the
gathering as mandated by a board vote a month ago after three years of IAEA
probes often parried by Tehran.
No new resolution was expected because the February motion, which at the
insistence of Russia, China and developing states gave Iran a month to comply,
was deemed enough for the Council to take up the issue.
ElBaradei will open the meeting with a speech at 0930 GMT.
When the Council might act remains unclear. The timing could hinge on the
course of talks between Russia and Iran on Moscow's offer to enrich uranium on
Tehran's behalf to prevent siphoning of nuclear materials into secret bombmaking
on Iranian soil.
Iran's top nuclear negotiator on Sunday repeated that its uranium-enrichment
research drive was non-negotiable. He vowed Tehran would pursue industrial-scale
nuclear fuel production if the Council tackles its case, potentially with
sanctions.
Tehran seemed to be counting on opposition to any sanctions from Russia and
China, both with vetoes on the Council.
John Bolton, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, warned Iran faced
"tangible and painful consequences" if it pushed ahead with uranium enrichment
and Washington would use "all tools at our disposal" to neutralize Tehran's
atomic project.
But nuclear scientists estimate Iran remains some years away from mastering
technology to enrich enough uranium for bombs.
ElBaradei felt the board vote to alert the Council was premature and could
aggravate tensions, agency sources say.
Western diplomats say the IAEA has been too tolerant of what they call
Iranian playing for time in hopes of staying the Council's hand while it
accelerates uranium-enrichment efforts.
Iran says its nuclear program is designed only to generate electricity for a
growing economy. But Tehran obscured sensitive aspects of nuclear work from the
IAEA for 18 years until 2003 and has publicly called for Israel's destruction.
IRAN DEFIES INTERNATIONAL PRESSURE
ElBaradei's report said Iran had disregarded the February resolution urging
it to shelve all enrichment-related work and stop stonewalling IAEA inquiries to
verify if the Islamic Republic's nuclear program is solely peaceful or not.
Instead, Iran is testing a cascade of 20 centrifuges, machines that convert
uranium UF6 gas into fuel for atomic power reactors or, if purified to high
levels, weapons.
He said Iran aims to begin installing 3,000 centrifuges later this year in
what it calls research and development (R&D) that has nothing to do with
industrial-scale fuel production, but which a suspicious West says could have no
other motivation.
Iran has struggled to operate cascades -- or networks -- of the delicate
centrifuges without breakdowns. But about 1,500 centrifuges running optimally
could yield enough highly enriched uranium for one atomic bomb per year, experts
say.
"The longer we wait to confront the threat Iran poses, the harder and more
intractable it will become to solve," Bolton told the leading pro-Israel lobby
group in the United States.
Trying to slow momentum toward Council intervention, Iran offered in talks
with "EU3" foreign ministers on Friday to hold off industrial-scale fuel
production for one to two years and restore short-notice IAEA inspections while
continuing with enrichment R&D. The ministers countered by asking for a
moratorium of around 10 years, which Iran rebuffed.
The Security Council's first step would probably be a presidential statement
summoning Iran to heed IAEA resolutions.
A U.S. official said Washington was considering seeking a 60- to 90-day
deadline for Iran to cooperate or face action.
The Security Council could also consider endowing the IAEA with more
intrusive, short-notice inspection powers.
Trade sanctions seem a more distant prospect given broad international
reluctance to isolate the world's No. 4 oil exporter and not least the
resistance of Russia and China, both with heavy trade stakes in the Islamic
Republic.
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