Iran Wins Developing States' Support on UN Referral

Diplomats from developing nations
rejected calls by the U.S. and Europe to send Iran to the United
Nations Security Council for possible sanctions over its nuclear
program.
Iran's case ``should remain in the purview of the
International Atomic Energy Agency,'' according to a one-page
resolution drafted by the 14-member Non-Aligned Movement at this
week's meeting of the UN watchdog's 35-member board of governors.
The proposed resolution was written today after Iranian Vice
President Gholamreza Aghazadeh arrived in Vienna for the talks.
The IAEA board said it hopes Iranian and Western diplomats
will resume negotiations on the Islamic Republic's nuclear
program. The governors also said they can't forecast the outcome
of a resolution backed by the U.S. and Europe that would refer
the dispute over Iran to the Security Council.
Iran won't leave the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty if
referred to the council, Iranian delegate Ali Asghar Soltani told
reporters in Vienna, denying a report that a pullout was
possible. Iran will resume uranium enrichment and withdraw from
voluntary inspection agreements if referred, he said. Agence
France-Presse yesterday reported Iran may leave the treaty.
``It's very hard to predict the outcome'' of the
negotiations, IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said today
as the board met for a third day at the agency's Vienna offices.
``I still hope that people go back to negotiation.''

Uranium Enrichment

U.S. and European diplomats are pressing for an IAEA
resolution asking the Security Council to confront Iran about its
intention to enrich uranium. The board suspended further meetings
today and will convene again tomorrow.
The IAEA should ``give the Security Council an opportunity
to throw its weight and authority behind the Board's
resolutions,'' said U.K. diplomat Peter Jenkins in a statement to
the board on behalf of the European Union. ``It will give the
Security Council an opportunity to endorse the Board's calls for
confidence-building measures.''
The EU statement cited concern about Iran's resumption of
uranium conversion activities and lack of cooperation in
answering IAEA questions.
``A growing number of countries agree with the European
Union that the time has come to refer Iran to the Security
Council,'' the U.S. ambassador to the IAEA, Greg Schulte, said.
Canada, France, Germany, the U.K. and the U.S. support reporting
Iran to the 15-member Security Council in New York.

Non-Aligned Stance

The 14 developing countries said they don't want a Security
Council referral for Iran to set a precedent. Iran's earlier
suspension of enrichment was ``a voluntary and non-legally
binding confidence-building measure,'' the head of the Non-
Aligned Movement, Malaysian Ambassador Rajmah Hussain, said on
Aug. 11.
Iran broke IAEA seals on an idled uranium-conversion plant
on Aug. 9. Iran says it needs nuclear fuel to generate
electricity. The U.S. says the Islamic Republic wants to build an
atomic bomb.
Iran, with the world's second-largest oil reserves, is
threatening to punish countries that support a Security Council
referral by restricting access to its energy sector, the Tehran
Times reported today.
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
newspaper 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, according to Tehran
Times.

Venezuelan Backing

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is seeking Iran's help in
developing a nuclear energy program for the South American
nation. Chavez said in March that Iran can count on his support
in its confrontation with the U.S. over its nuclear program.
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he was against
a Security Council referral yesterday, according to Russia's RIA-
Novosti news service. Lavrov said such a move would be
``counterproductive'' because Iran is cooperating with the IAEA,
the news service reported.
Russia is helping to build a $1 billion nuclear reactor at
Bushehr in Iran.