The Hindu

Tuesday, Sep 02, 2003

Pressure on Iran over n-issue

By Atul Aneja

MANAMA SEPT. 1 . Pressure on Iran to close its suspected nuclear weapons
programme is mounting with the European Union and Japan threatening to use
their considerable economic leverage against Teheran.

The E.U. Foreign Minister, Javier Solana, who was in Iran recently, gave a
blunt message that Teheran's trade relations with the grouping would suffer,
unless it unconditionally opened up all its suspected nuclear weapon
manufacturing facilities to international inspections.

Specifically, the E.U. wants Iran to allow inspectors from the International
Atomic Energy Agency, the global nuclear umpire, to inspect its facilities
unannounced. This can be achieved if Iran, a member of the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty, signs an additional protocol to the treaty.

Demands on Iran to sign the additional protocol have also come from powerful
individual E.U. members.

The German Chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, has appealed to Iran to cooperate
with the U.N. atomic energy authorities by giving a full account of its
nuclear programme.

France also urged Iran to sign the additional protocol to allay
apprehensions about its nuclear programme.

While Iran has stated that it would not yield to international pressure over
its nuclear programme, which it insists is not weapon-oriented, analysts
said Teheran would find it hard to brush aside the mounting pressure from
the E.U.

With the U.S. snapping ties with Iran, the E.U. has emerged as Iran's
biggest trading partner. E.U. countries are also major investors in Iran's
crucial oil sector.

Japan also appears to have intensified pressure on Iran. Japan, which at one
time was moving ahead to invest in Iran's giant on-shore Azadegan oil field,
now appears to be backtracking. In fact, Iran's Foreign Minister, Kamal
Kharrazi, who visited Japan recently, was quoted by the Kyodo News Agency as
telling the Japanese Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry, that Tokyo
should invest in the Azadegan oil field for ensuring a stable energy supply.
Iran finds the development of the oil field crucial for its future economic
well-being.Coinciding with the demands by major industrialised countries,
Iran has found itself directly in the IAEA's firing line.

In an interview to the BBC, the IAEA chief, Mohammad ElBaradei, said Iran
should have been more transparent about its nuclear programme. Asked if he
believed Iran was running a secret weapons programme, Mr. ElBaradei said:

"It might be, it might not be." In preparing to engage the IAEA, Iran has to
cross a major hurdle on Sept. 8 when the 35-member IAEA board of governors
convenes to consider its case.

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the
contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent
of The Hindu