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IAEA hopes for deal on Iran nuke program
(AP)
Updated: 2006-03-07 19:40
Strong U.S. opposition appeared close to torpedoing a Russian initiative that
would leave Iran with a small-scale uranium enrichment program, diplomats said
Tuesday as Moscow and Washington struggled to find common ground on what to do
about Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
One of the diplomats, who spoke outside a 35-nation IAEA board meeting, said
Germany also remained open to the proposal, which would allow the Iranians to
run 20 uranium-enriching centrifuges domestically while ceding control of
large-scale enrichment to Moscow, on Russian soil.
As the board meeting entered its second day, German representatives were
meeting with counterparts from France and Britain 錕斤拷 which both back the
Americans in opposing the plan 錕斤拷 to try to re-establish a common European stance
on enrichment, said the diplomats, who demanded anonymity in exchange for
divulging confidential information.
A European official in Vienna for the meeting said that ultimately the plan
would fail if the Americans opposed it.
The dispute, which surfaced in the last few days, was driving a wedge into
joint international efforts to wean Iran of all enrichment activity by moving it
to Russia, thereby reducing its potential for misuse by Tehran.
The original Russian plan that surfaced last year and is backed by the
Americans and the European Union, would have stripped the Iranians of all
enrichment potential. But the proposal carried to Washington Monday by Russian
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov would allow the Iranians a still-to-be-defined
"research and development" capacity 錕斤拷 including the 20 centrifuges.
The diplomats said IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei backed the plan. On Monday,
he told reporters a deal on Iran's suspect nuclear program could be only a few
days away, making U.N. Security Council action unneeded. Though he did not
elaborate, his optimism appeared linked to the Russian proposal on limited
enrichment
"I am still very much hopeful that in the next week an agreement could be
reached," ElBaradei said.
China's foreign minister also appealed for more negotiations, suggesting no
need for Security Council involvement.
"Iran should cooperate closely with the IAEA to settle the nuclear dispute,"
Li said.
The Americans remained unconvinced. U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas
Burns said in Washington that "unless Iran does a dramatic about-face," he
expected the issue to be taken up by the Security Council.
Later, State Department spokesman Tom Casey said Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice telephoned ElBaradei "to reiterate the U.S. position that Iran
should cease all enrichment-related activity." In response, ElBaradei agreed
that Iran must not be allowed to have enrichment activity on its territory, said
a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not in
position to speak for the IAEA.
There was no official IAEA response. But a diplomat familiar with ElBaradei's
stance questioned the U.S. version of ElBaradei's position, saying the IAEA
chief remained convinced there was no alternative to allowing Iran some
enrichment activity as a way of reaching a deal.
The Russian proposal described by the diplomats would allow Tehran to conduct
small-scale uranium enrichment, and would ask the IAEA to set the parameters of
such activity to minimize the chances of abuse.
In return, the diplomats said, Iran would be asked to recommit to in-depth
IAEA probes of its program on short notice. Iran canceled such investigations
last month after the IAEA's 35-nation board put the U.N. Security Council on
alert by passing on Iran's nuclear dossier.
France, Britain and Germany broke off negotiations on behalf of the European
Union with Iran last year after it resumed enrichment-related activities, which
can produce both nuclear fuel and the fissile core of warheads. Since then,
they, the United States, Canada, Australia and Japan have been at the forefront
of efforts to have the U.N. Security Council take up the Iran issue.
All involved 錕斤拷 whether or not they supported allowing Iran some control of
enrichment 錕斤拷 were firm on the need for Tehran to first return to a freeze of all
such activities for a prolonged time "to re-establish confidence," said one of
the diplomats
He said the Russians had proposed eight years. A U.S. State Department
official, who also insisted on anonymity, refused to specify a length of time
but said two years would be too short.
The Vienna meeting is scheduled to hear a report by ElBaradei focusing on
Iran's nuclear program, likely on Wednesday.
The last board meeting already had sent the complete Iran file to the
Security Council. This meeting is scheduled to pass the ElBaradei report on to
the council, which then can decide whether to take action.
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