IRAN: Governors of the the International Atomic Energy Agency broadly agree it is better to explore a Russian compromise over Iran's nuclear activities than to report Tehran to the United Nations Security Council, Western board members have said.
A draft statement incorporating this position was submitted by France, Britain and Germany, or "EU3", to the chairman of the board of the UN nuclear watchdog 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, to be read by the IAEA board chairman at the end of the meeting. The EU draft made no mention of previous threats to refer Tehran to the Security Council for possible sanctions, a move the US and EU had been seeking for months.
Diplomats said a decision by the EU and the US 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 EU.
"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."
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 UN inspectors for 18 years until 2003.
About 1,000 Iranian exiles rallied yesterday 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, exposed Iran's covert uranium enrichment programme in 2002.
The EU text cited "unanimous concern" about a disclosure last week that Iran had received papers from black marketeers describing in part how to build the core of a nuclear bomb.
Peter Jenkins, Britain's 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 said.
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.
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 Security Council referral but will issue a statement summarising board members' concerns. Western diplomats said non-aligned developing nations on the board would demand the EU draft text be softened.
Russia, Britain, France, Germany and Iran plan to meet on December 6th, four months after the EU3 cut contact in protest at Iran ending a suspension in processing uranium for nuclear fuel.
(Reuters)