Iran to resume uranium enrichment 'immediately'
Iran today said it would “immediately” set into motion steps to restart full-scale uranium enrichment and curtail the inspecting powers of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Javed Vaeidi, the deputy head of Iran’s powerful Security Council, was reacting to his country’s referral to the UN Security Council over suspicions it might be seeking to develop nuclear arms.
He spoke just minutes after the International Atomic Energy Agency’s 35-nation board voted for referral.
The decision by the IAEA decision sets the stage for future action by the top UN body that could include economic and political sanctions.
Still, any such moves were weeks if not months away, with two permanent council members – Russia and China – agreeing to referral only on condition that no council action be taken until at least March.
A European resolution backed by the United States calling for referral was backed by 27 nations at the meeting.
Only three nations – Cuba, Syria and Venezuela – voted against. Five others - Algeria, Belarus, Indonesia, Libya and South Africa abstained.
Among those backing referral was India, a nation with great weight in the developing world whose stance on referral was unclear until the vote.
A copy of the resolution links the decision to ask for Tehran’s referral to the country’s breaches of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and lack of confidence that it is not trying to make weapons.
The resolution expresses “serious concerns about Iran’s nuclear program.” It recalls “Iran’s many failures and breaches of its obligations” to the non-proliferation treaty. And it expresses “the absence of confidence that Iran’s nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes”.
It requests IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei to “report to the Security Council” steps Iran needs to take to dispel suspicions about its nuclear ambitions.
The resolution calls on Iran to:
:: Re-establish a freeze on uranium enrichment and related activities.
:: Consider whether to stop construction of a heavy water reactor that could be the source of plutonium for weapons.
:: Formally ratify an agreement allowing the IAEA greater inspecting authority and continue honouring the agreement before it is ratified.
:: Give the IAEA additional power in its investigation of Iran’s nuclear program, including “access to individuals” for interviews, as well as to documentation on its black-market nuclear purchases, equipment that could be used for nuclear and non-nuclear purposes and “certain military-owned workshops” where nuclear activities might be going on.
The draft also asks ElBaradei to “convey … to the Security Council” his report to the next board session in March along with any resolution that meeting might approve.
Agreement on the final wording of the text was achieved only overnight, just hours before Saturday’s meeting convened, after Washington compromised on a dispute with Egypt over linking fears about Tehran’s atomic program to a Middle East zone free of weapons of mass destruction – an indirect reference to Israel.
The wording of the final resolution recognised “that a solution to the Iranian issue would contribute to global non-proliferation efforts and … the objective of a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction, including their means of delivery”.
A Western diplomat at the meeting said the US felt strongly about not linking its ally Israel to nuclear concerns in the Middle East when it considers Iran the real threat in the region. But the Americans agreed in the face of overwhelming support for inclusion of such a clause from its European allies spearheading the resolution.
Egypt, whose support of the resolution is key to swaying other Arab board members to join in backing it, was looking to make the linkage to satisfy broad domestic concerns, a senior European diplomat said.
Even before today’s vote, diplomats said support for Iran had shrunk among board members since Russia and China swung their support behind referral at a meeting with the US, France and Britain – the other three permanent council members – earlier in the week.
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