The EU submitted a motion that sets Iran up for referral to the UN Security Council, and pushed for a decision yesterday when the 35-nation board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reconvenes.
Iran increased its own pressure against referral, threatening to restart uranium enrichment -- a possible pathway to nuclear arms, diplomats accredited to the agency said. They said Iran also warned it could block access for inspectors for the IAEA it had agreed to under a document that Iran has not yet ratified.
The diplomats said on Friday that both threats were contained in unsigned letters and shown by a member of the Iranian delegation to the IAEA head, Mohamed ElBaradei.
If signed and submitted, the letters become part of the official record.
The EU motion -- a draft resolution to the IAEA's board of governors -- calls on the 35-nation board to consider reporting Iran to the council. As grounds, it mentions noncompliance with provisions of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty (NPT) and suspicions that Iran's nuclear activities could threaten international peace and security, according to a draft copy.
An official of US President George W. Bush's administration said the US was willing to accept the motion as an interim measure.
Any resolution still must be accepted by the board before it has validity. The board agreed to reconvene yesterday and the Europeans, backed by the US and their allies, were expected to call then for approval by consensus or, if that proved impossible, for a vote.
The board normally makes decisions by consensus, but the divisive nature of the draft was expected to result in a vote, which the Europeans were expected to win against Iran's allies at the IAEA.
The Security Council could impose sanctions if it determines that Iran violated the NPT, but veto-carrying council members Russia and China -- which oppose even referral to the council -- were certain to vote against such action, and the draft made no mention of sanctions.
Still, it was unequivocal in saying that -- unless Iran ends uranium conversion and clears up questions remaining about its past nuclear activities -- the grounds exist for Security Council referral.
A nation's failure to comply with the nonproliferation treaty is automatic grounds for a report to the Security Council under IAEA statutes, and the draft said "Iran's many failures and breaches of its obligations ... constitute noncompliance."
Additionally, Iran's spotty record on cooperating with an IAEA probe since it began in 2002 has resulted in an "absence of confidence that Iran's nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes," the document said. That finding puts Iran "within the competence of the Security Council, as the organ bearing the main responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security," the text said.
The draft did not specify a time frame, but outlined what Iran must do to avoid being brought before the Security Council, including:
Giving IAEA experts "access to individuals, documentation relating to [nuclear] procurement, dual use equipment, certain military owned workshops and research and development locations."
A return to "full and sustained suspension of all enrichment-related activity ... and reprocessing activity" -- allusions to the resumption by Iran last month of uranium conversion -- a precursor of enrichment, which can result in either nuclear fuel or the fissile core of warheads.
Iran's ratification of the additional agreement with the IAEA giving its inspectors the right to look more closely at Iran's nuclear activities.
From the tone of the draft submitted, it appeared the EU decided to go with a harsher text, even at the risk of alienating Russia.
The Europeans for years avoided US demands for support in its push to haul Iran before the Security Council. They reluctantly swung behind Washington last month, after Tehran walked away from talks with Britain, France and Germany meant to reduce suspicions about its nuclear aims and began uranium conversion.
DOUBLE-MURDER CASE: The officer told the dispatcher he would check the locations of the callers, but instead headed to a pizzeria, remaining there for about an hour A New Jersey officer has been charged with misconduct after prosecutors said he did not quickly respond to and properly investigate reports of a shooting that turned out to be a double murder, instead allegedly stopping at an ATM and pizzeria. Franklin Township Police Sergeant Kevin Bollaro was the on-duty officer on the evening of Aug. 1, when police received 911 calls reporting gunshots and screaming in Pittstown, about 96km from Manhattan in central New Jersey, Hunterdon County Prosecutor Renee Robeson’s office said. However, rather than responding immediately, prosecutors said GPS data and surveillance video showed Bollaro drove about 3km
‘MOTHER’ OF THAILAND: In her glamorous heyday in the 1960s, former Thai queen Sirikit mingled with US presidents and superstars such as Elvis Presley The year-long funeral ceremony of former Thai queen Sirikit started yesterday, with grieving royalists set to salute the procession bringing her body to lie in state at Bangkok’s Grand Palace. Members of the royal family are venerated in Thailand, treated by many as semi-divine figures, and lavished with glowing media coverage and gold-adorned portraits hanging in public spaces and private homes nationwide. Sirikit, the mother of Thai King Vajiralongkorn and widow of the nation’s longest-reigning monarch, died late on Friday at the age of 93. Black-and-white tributes to the royal matriarch are being beamed onto towering digital advertizing billboards, on
POWER ABUSE WORRY: Some people warned that the broad language of the treaty could lead to overreach by authorities and enable the repression of government critics Countries signed their first UN treaty targeting cybercrime in Hanoi yesterday, despite opposition from an unlikely band of tech companies and rights groups warning of expanded state surveillance. The new global legal framework aims to bolster international cooperation to fight digital crimes, from child pornography to transnational cyberscams and money laundering. More than 60 countries signed the declaration, which means it would go into force once ratified by those states. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the signing as an “important milestone,” and that it was “only the beginning.” “Every day, sophisticated scams destroy families, steal migrants and drain billions of dollars from our economy...
Indonesia was to sign an agreement to repatriate two British nationals, including a grandmother languishing on death row for drug-related crimes, an Indonesian government source said yesterday. “The practical arrangement will be signed today. The transfer will be done immediately after the technical side of the transfer is agreed,” the source said, identifying Lindsay Sandiford and 35-year-old Shahab Shahabadi as the people being transferred. Sandiford, a grandmother, was sentenced to death on the island of Bali in 2013 after she was convicted of trafficking drugs. Customs officers found cocaine worth an estimated US$2.14 million hidden in a false bottom in Sandiford’s suitcase when
RSS