Russian plan for Iran unites IAEA
Thu Nov 24, 2005
By Mark Heinrich and Louis Charbonneau
VIENNA (Reuters) - Governors of the U.N. nuclear watchdog broadly agree it is better to explore a Russian compromise over Iran's nuclear activities than to report Tehran to the Security Council, Western board members said on Thursday.
A draft statement incorporating this position was submitted by the European Union's three biggest powers -- France, Britain and Germany, or "EU3" -- to the chairman of the International Atomic Energy Agency's board as it began a two-day meeting.
"There is a broad consensus not to allow Iran in the present circumstances conducting (sic) enrichment-related activities on its soil," said the draft of a statement, obtained by Reuters, to be read by the IAEA board chairman at the end of the meeting.
The EU draft text made no mention of previous threats to refer Tehran to the Security Council for possible sanctions, a move the United States and EU had been seeking for months.
Diplomats said a decision by the EU and the United States not to push for referral at the meeting had averted a potential clash with Russia and China, which oppose any such move.
Rarely united previously, they and the Western powers, along with developing countries such as India and South Africa, now seem to agree Russia's proposal offers the best route forward.
Moscow has suggested letting Tehran perform less-sensitive uranium processing in Iran and send the converted material to Russia, where a Russian-Iranian joint venture would handle the critical enrichment process. Enrichment can yield fuel for nuclear power stations or bomb-grade uranium fuel.
Javad Vaeedi, deputy head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said Iran had not yet received any official proposal from either Russia or the European Union.
"However, Iran welcomes any proposal that acknowledges its right to have access to peaceful nuclear technology including the fuel cycle, that does not deprive Iran of any of the nuclear fuel cycle stages, and that guarantees domestic and foreign participation in the production of the nuclear fuel technology," he told the official IRNA news agency in Vienna.
The EU text said the IAEA's 35-nation board had "unanimous hope ... that the negotiation process could resume, taking into account, among different ideas, the Russian proposals".
It also said: "None of the members of the board wishes Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon."
Tehran denies wanting anything more than civilian nuclear energy but acknowledges hiding potentially weapons-related technology from U.N. inspectors for 18 years until 2003.
Western concerns were heightened last month when the Islamic republic's president said Israel should be "wiped off the map".
IRANIAN EXILES
About 1,000 Iranian exiles rallied outside the IAEA compound in Vienna in freezing temperatures, calling for Iran's case to be sent to the Security Council.
The group sponsoring the demonstration, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), first exposed Iran's covert uranium enrichment program in 2002.
The EU text cited "unanimous concern" about a disclosure last week that Iran had received papers from black marketers describing in part how to build the core of a nuclear bomb.
Peter Jenkins, British envoy to the IAEA, said this clearly reflected a quest for nuclear arms. He warned that while the EU had opted to give Iran more time to weigh Moscow's proposal, the West's forbearance was not unlimited.
"Iran should not conclude that this window of opportunity will remain open in all circumstances," he told reporters, without setting a deadline.
Iran has stressed that it intends to start enrichment on its own soil eventually. Tehran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, said this would be the main topic of any future discussions with the Europeans and Russians.
"The next talks will be about the enrichment program and there must be a framework and a deadline for talks, because without such things, negotiations will be fruitless," he told Iran's semi-official Mehr news agency.
But Germany's ambassador to the IAEA, Herbert Honsowitz, told the board session that if Iran began enriching uranium, "it must be absolutely clear that this would immediately put an end to our (diplomatic) efforts".
IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei sad he hoped "every effort will be made so that the dialogue between Iran and all concerned parties can be resumed."
The IAEA board will not vote on U.N. Council referral but will issue a statement summarizing board members' concerns, diplomats said. Western diplomats said non-aligned developing nations on the board would demand the EU draft text be softened.
Diplomats said envoys of Russia, Britain, France, Germany and Iran tentatively planned to meet on December 6, four months after the EU3 cut off contact in protest at Iran ending a suspension in processing uranium for nuclear fuel.
The meeting, which diplomats say will take place in Vienna, Brussels, Geneva or Moscow, will focus on the Russian proposal.
(Additional reporting by Parinoosh Arami and Paul Hughes in Tehran and Paul Taylor in Brussels)
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