Diplomats, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity
because they are not authorized to discuss confidential details of the IAEA's
Iran probe, said they had no details of what Saeedi had brought to the table.
Still, they characterized the meeting between Saeedi and Olli Heinonen, the
IAEA's deputy director general in charge of Iran's nuclear file, as unlikely to
blunt the report's main finding — that Tehran has ignored council requests to
suspend uranium enrichment.
U.S. Ambassador John Bolton already has said he plans to introduce a
resolution requiring Tehran to comply with the council's demand to stop its
enrichment program. The resolution would not call for sanctions now, but it
would be introduced under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which allows for
sanctions and is militarily enforceable.
Iran's U.N. ambassador, Javad Zarif, said Tehran will refuse to comply with
such a resolution because its activities are legal and peaceful. Enrichment can
be used to generate fuel or make the fissile core of nuclear weapons.
"If the Security Council decides to take decisions that are not within its
competence, then Iran does not feel obliged to obey," he said.
He also said Tehran was prepared to return to discussions of the offer it
made in negotiations with the Europeans last year if the international community
agrees to "stop this nonsense, pressure tactic."
A Russian proposal to move Tehran's uranium enrichment to Russian territory
"is still alive," he said, "and Iran is prepared to consider any proposal that
will guarantee Iran's rights."
Iran's hard-line president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, also vowed that "no one"
could make his country give up nuclear technology.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, insisted the U.N. nuclear
watchdog should continue to play a central role in the dispute. "It mustn't
shrug this role from its shoulders and pass it on to the U.N. Security Council,"
Putin said.
But a top French diplomat laid out a starkly contrasting position reflecting
U.S. and British views: The Security Council should not only have primacy in
dealing with Iran but also should start considering how to increase the
pressure. But, the diplomat said, a U.N. resolution would not automatically mean
resorting to military action.
The Security Council adopted a statement a month ago giving Iran until Friday
to suspend all activities linked to enrichment because it can be used to make
the highly enriched uranium used in the core of nuclear warheads.
Instead of complying, Iran — which says it seeks the technology only to
generate electric power — has upped the ante in recent weeks, announcing it had
for the first time successfully enriched uranium and was doing research on
advanced centrifuges that would let it produce more of the material in less
time.
Western concern has grown since 2002 when Iran was found to be working on
large-scale plans to enrich uranium.
While the IAEA has found no "smoking gun" proving Iran wants nuclear arms, a
series of reports have revealed worrying clandestine activities — like plutonium
processing — and documents, including drawings of how to mold weapons-grade
uranium metal into the shape of a warhead.