UN Referral for Iran Nuclear Program Is `Next Step,' U.S. Says

The U.S. government said it will
refer Iran to the United Nations Security Council unless it halts
its uranium processing program, after the Iranian government
rejected calls from a nuclear watchdog to stop the work.
Iran rejected a resolution from the United Nations
International Atomic Energy Agency urging it to freeze the
uranium processing, which it restarted on Aug. 8, and vowed to
become a nuclear fuel exporter within the next decade.
``If Iran doesn't take the steps described in the
resolution, we would expect that the next step would be referral
to the Security Council,'' Adam Ereli, deputy State Department
spokesman, said yesterday at a press briefing in Washington.
The resolution ``expresses serious concern'' and ``urges
Iran to re-establish full suspension of all enrichment related
activities'' and allow the IAEA to put back seals on equipment at
a plant in central Iran, according to the text. U.S. opposition
to Iran's program is driven by concern that nuclear materials
might be handed to terrorist groups.
IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei was requested to
report on Iran's compliance by Sept. 3 under the resolution.
French, German and U.K. diplomats wrote the measure.
Yesterday's resolution ``is a vote of no-confidence in the
agency,'' said the Middle Eastern country's chief delegate to the
IAEA in Vienna, Cyrus Nasseri, at a press conference today in
Vienna. ``It is absurd.''

`Dangerous Course'

The U.S. and its European allies want to stop Iran from
pursuing research efforts that may lead to the building of a
nuclear weapon.
The document ``shows that the international community is
united in determining that Iran move off the dangerous course
that it is on,'' said the U.S. ambassador to the IAEA, Greg
Schulte.
Iran implemented a voluntary freeze on its uranium
processing in November. The IAEA asked it to suspend developing
the nuclear fuel cycle in order to ``build confidence'' among
member states that its program was for peaceful purposes only.
Iran has in the past given false information to UN inspectors
about its atomic program.
Iranian officials on Aug. 10 removed UN seals on equipment
used in uranium enrichment at a facility in Isfahan. Isfahan is
the site of Iran's largest nuclear research center, employing as
many as 3,000 scientists, and may be the primary location of
Iran's nuclear weapons program, according to the Web site of the
defense research organization GlobalSecurity.org.
The three European allies of the U.S. have been conducting
negotiations with Iran on limiting its enrichment program, a
process that produces the material to fuel a nuclear power plant
or bomb. The U.S. government, which has no formal diplomatic ties
with Iran, hasn't officially joined the talks.

Fuel Plans

Iran, the second-biggest producer in the Organization of
Petroleum Exporting Countries, will develop its nuclear fuel
capability for future exports, Nasseri said yesterday. The
country will continue converting raw uranium into uranium
hexafluoride gas at its Isfahan plant, Nasseri said. Iran will
keep its enrichment facility in Natanz, south of Tehran, closed
for now, he said.
``We'd like to be a supplier of energy as we are in oil and
gas as well,'' Nasseri said.
ElBaradei yesterday confirmed that Isfahan was under agency
observation with inspectors on the ground. The plant, located in
central Iran, isn't capable of enriching uranium, according to
the IAEA.
``Whether Iran resumes full suspension is up to Iran to
decide,'' said ElBaradei, a 63-year-old former Egyptian diplomat.
``There's a window of opportunity to regulate the situation.''
The IAEA resolution also urged Iran to continue negotiating
with the EU-3 to overcome the current impasse. The director
general was ``encouraged by statements'' that talks would
continue.