US seeks to haul Iran before UN security council

Iran’s refusal to fully give up uranium enrichment – and banish suspicions it is interested in nuclear arms – set the stage for a confrontation at a key UN atomic watchdog agency meeting today.

The US was lobbying its allies to have Tehran hauled before the UN Security Council.

Russia said it was opposed to such a move, at least for now.

“We think it is premature for the UN Security Council to discuss this issue,” Yury Fedotov, a deputy Russian foreign minister.

Tehran appeared ready to compromise as the Vienna meeting opened. Hossein Mousavian, Iran’s chief delegate, said that “at the moment” a partial freeze on assembling and making parts for centrifuges – a key part of the enrichment process – was in effect.

A senior diplomat said the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog, was checking on the claim that Iran had reinstated such a partial freeze.

The IAEA board of governors meeting also heard brief comments on South Korea’s clandestine uranium enrichment and plutonium extraction experiments from agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei.

ElBaradei said South Korea’s failure to report its experiments as required by agreements it had with the IAEA were a “matter of serious concern.” He said he would have a fuller report on Seoul’s clandestine nuclear activities by the next board meeting in November.

Repeating his government’s stance, South Korean delegate Cho Chang-Bom said the experiments involved only minute quantities of enriched uranium and plutonium and were performed by a small group of renegade scientists ”without the knowledge and authorisation of the government.” He said that – with the revelations now public – South Korea had no more nuclear secrets.

Washington appeared to soften its rhetoric on Iran before the opening session in apparent recognition that it might not get its way immediately. But its case was bolstered over the longer term after key European allies agreed to set a November deadline for Iran to meet demands meant to banish concerns over its possible pursuit of nuclear weapons.

In a confidential draft resolution prepared by France, Germany and Britain, the three European powers warned of possible ”further steps” by November, the next time the IAEA convenes a meeting of its board of governors.

Diplomats defined that phrase as shorthand for referral of Iran’s case to the Security Council if Tehran hinders the IAEA’s nuclear investigation or refuses to suspend uranium enrichment – which can be used to generate power or make nuclear weapons.