US accuses Iran of trying to make nuclear weapons

The United States accused Iran of trying to make nuclear weapons in harsh comments at a key UN atomic agency meeting today.

It reflected the split between Washington and key European nations about how far to go in censuring Tehran for its past activities.

Unable to bridge that rift, delegates at a board of governors’ meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna decided to adjourn their dispute until next week in hopes of finding a compromise that bridged the transatlantic divide.

IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said the meeting would reconvene on Wednesday.

That, she said, would give a chance for high-level negotiations to continue in the capitals of the 35 board members.

The move follows failure by delegates to reconcile US wishes for strong censure of Iran’s past covert nuclear activities and European hopes of encouraging Tehran’s new-found openness by refraining from overtly harsh language or any formulation that would result in Security Council involvement.

Addressing delegates, US Ambassador Kenneth Brill assailed Iran for “violations and lies” that stretched over 18 years, including enriching uranium, processing small amounts of plutonium and other activities that Washington says point to a weapons agenda.

“Iran systematically and deliberately deceived the IAEA and the international community about these issues for year after year after year,” he said. The purpose, he said, was ”the pursuit of nuclear weapons.”

Such conduct on the part of Iran “constitutes non-compliance with its safeguards obligations,” Brill said, in language that indirectly accused Iran of violating the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty – an act that normally results in Security Council involvement.

In comments that provoked an unusually sharp response from IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei, Brill suggested a statement in ElBaradei’s report on Iran was ”questionable” in saying there was no evidence that Iran had tried to build nuclear weapons. No “proof” would have been the proper phrase, said Brill.

ElBaradei dismissed the argument as “disingenuous,” said diplomats inside the meeting.

Earlier, after hours of delay, Iran submitted a letter to the board agreeing to throw its nuclear programmes open to pervasive spot inspections, giving up attempts to wait until it saw the text of the resolution and approved its language.

But diplomats said Iran continued to insist that it had the right to withdraw its promise to accept spot agency inspections if the resolution made reference to Security Council involvement or contained other language it found unacceptable.