Pressure increases on Iran over nuclear plans

A meeting yesterday produced no agreement among the US, France, Britain, Germany, Moscow and Beijing on whether to refer the dispute over Iranian nuclear enrichment to the Security Council, which could impose sanctions.

Past opposition to such action by Russia and China led the Europeans and the US to postpone referral.

Russia and China have joined Europe and the US in criticising Iran’s resumption of uranium enrichment. But both would prefer to avoid Security Council involvement and are outright opposed to sanctions.

A draft text by Britain proposing referral when the IAEA’s 35-nation board of directors meets February 2 reflected deference to the Russians and Chinese, stopping short of calls for punitive measures.

Instead, the text urges the 15-nation council to press Tehran “to extend full and prompt cooperation to the agency” in its investigation of suspect nuclear activities.

It also asks the council to make clear “that additional transparency measures are indispensable” if Iran hopes to prove it does not want to make nuclear weapons.

The diplomat agreed to share the confidential information only on condition of anonymity.

The wording of the text is sure to change ahead of the IAEA meeting. But the fact that it was calling on the council to send Iran’s nuclear file back to the IAEA provided the latest indication the country could escape sanctions.

US State Department spokesman Seam McCormack suggested Washington would push to have Iran hauled before the Security Council no matter what the Russians and Chinese thought.

“We have the votes for a referral to the Security Council, and we believe that that is the action the IAEA is going to take when they meet in February,” he said. ”Whether or not the Russians vote with the rest of the world is up to them.

Moscow supports calling on Iran to renew a moratorium on uranium enrichment, a possible pathway to nuclear arms. But asked yesterday whether Russia would be ready to refer Iran to the Security Council for violating the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said other means should be considered first.

“I don’t think that the potential of the IAEA’s Governing Board has been exhausted and the European troika has the same opinion,” he said, alluding to France, Britain and Germany, which represent the European Union in talks on the issue.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry took a cautious tone, saying ”all relevant sides should remain restrained and stick to solving the Iranian nuclear issue through negotiations.”

Israel – whose right to exist has been denied by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad – took a tough stance.

In response to a question about Iran, acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said “under no circumstances can Israel allow someone with hostile intentions against us to have control over weapons of mass destruction that can endanger our existence.”

Israel has refused to categorically rule out military strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities. But officials say that’s not in the cards anytime soon, and Olmert said yesterday that any Israeli action would be in cooperation with the international community.

Raising hopes for a compromise, Iran on Monday praised a proposal by Russian President Vladimir Putin to conduct Iranian uranium enrichment in Russia, which would allow for greater international oversight.

And Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki yesterday again invited Europeans to the negotiation table to avoid a major international crisis, state-run television reported.

But British officials questioned Tehran’s sincerity and said yesterday that London maintained its stance on the need for Security Council action.

Russia and China are IAEA board opinion leaders whose voice counts with other nations. They also are veto-wielding members of the Security Council that could block harsh action against Tehran – including economic sanctions, an option backed by the Bush administration.

European nations have been willing to wait on referral in hopes Tehran’s defiance would sway Moscow and Beijing.

The US is the key backer of Security Council sanctions, but has thrown its weight behind the Europeans in hopes that time would work on its behalf in hardening anti-Iran sentiment.

In a January 12 letter to other board nation members that was made available to the AP, Washington’s chief delegate to the IAEA, Gregory Schulte, urged them “to vote affirmatively to report Iran to the United Nations Security Council.”

The letter was part of a dossier being circulated by the Americans to support their argument that Iran’s main interest is to develop weapons, a diplomat said.

But the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Egypt, the Arab world’s two major powers, yesterday urged Vice President Dick Cheney, who is on a trip to the region, to give negotiations with Iran more time.

Iran’s case also has been hurt by comments by IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei, who says he is losing patience with Iran for blocking requests for documents, interviews and access to sites to test Iranian claims its nuclear program is peaceful.

Robert Joseph, US under-secretary for arms control and international security, was in Vienna and planned to meet with ElBaradei before heading to Moscow and Tokyo.

The path for referral was laid by an IAEA resolution finding Iran in violation of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty for clandestine nuclear activity.

That resolution implied Tehran’s defiance of calls to freeze enrichment would be the “trigger” for Security Council involvement, a condition met January 10 when Iran removed UN seals from its main uranium enrichment facility and resumed research on nuclear fuel – including small-scale enrichment.