EU Backs Off `Dangerous' UN Council Referral for Iran
The European Union submitted a
resolution that would delay a United Nations Security Council
referral over Iran's uranium enrichment intentions, after the
Iranian government said the threat could lead to confrontation.
The U.S.-backed resolution proposed by the EU says Iran is in
``non-compliance'' and that Iran's nuclear program has ``given
rise to questions that are within the competence of the Security
Council,'' according to a three-page copy distributed at the
International Atomic Energy Agency meeting in Vienna late today.
Diplomats have been trying to decide how to deal with Iran's
decision to remove IAEA seals from a uranium-conversion facility
on Aug. 9. Iran, with the world's second-biggest oil reserves,
says it wants enriched uranium to generate electricity. The U.S.
says the Iranian leadership is trying to produce material to build
an atomic bomb.
The IAEA will continue leading the investigation into Iran's
nuclear program, and its board of governors will address ``the
timing and content'' of a Security Council referral at a future
meeting, the resolution says. Iran could be sent to the Security
Council as early as Nov. 24, when the board of governors next
meets.
Earlier in the day, an Iranian government official warned
against a move to send the matter to the UN's highest body in New
York.
``This is very dangerous to go the way of confrontation,''
said Javad Vaidi, spokesman for Iran's National Security Council.
``We want a peaceful resolution to this issue.''
The IAEA's 35-member board plans to vote on the EU resolution
tomorrow, and support from 18 governments is needed for approval.
This would be the eighth IAEA resolution criticizing Iran in the
past two years.
Russian Opposition
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said today that he was
opposed to threatening Iran with a Security Council referral
because talks were advancing, the Interfax news agency reported.
Russia and China, both veto-wielding permanent members of the
Security Council, want Iran's nuclear program dealt with through
the IAEA, they said in statements delivered to the board
yesterday.
The Non-Aligned Movement of 14 countries also ``would prefer
a more constructive approach'' than the EU draft resolutions,
Malaysian delegate Rajmah Hussain said earlier. ``We're still
trying to negotiate a way out,'' she said.
The head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned that UN
sanctions would push the price of oil to $100 a barrel, Agence
France-Presse reported from Tehran, citing General Yahya Rahim
Safavi.
Reports from Tehran show that Iran is linking support for its
nuclear program to energy deals. Inpex Corp., Japan's biggest oil
explorer, may lose a $2.5 billion project to develop Iran's
Azadegan field if it supports the referral of the Iran dispute to
the Security Council, the Tehran Times reported. The National
Iranian Oil Co. subsidiary Petropars will participate in a
contract worth more than $2 billion to develop an oil field in
Venezuela, the newspaper said. Venezuela is against referral.
Energy Deals
Iran has been signing energy agreements with IAEA board
members. Iran is set to supply China with 10 million tons of
liquefied natural gas annually beginning in 2008, Iran's Oil
Ministry said July 6. It's also planning a $7.4 billion natural-
gas pipeline to India.
``Those countries that have economic transactions with Iran,
especially in the field of oil, have not defended Iran's right so
far,'' AFP cited Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani as
saying earlier this week. ``Based on how much they defend Iran's
national right will facilitate their participation.''
A meeting of the agency's governing board is in its fifth day
at IAEA headquarters in the Austrian capital.
The Non-Aligned Movement countries opposing sending Iran to
the Security Council are: Algeria, Brazil, Ecuador, Ghana, India,
Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tunisia,
Venezuela, Vietnam and Yemen.