Security council gives Iran 30 days to clear nuclear suspicions

The UN Security Council has given Iran 30 days to clear up suspicions that it wants to become a nuclear power and key members are already discussing further action if Tehran refuses to suspend uranium enrichment and allow more extensive inspections.

After three weeks of intense negotiations, the 15-member council finally agreed on a statement yesterday designed to put Iran on notice that even its closest allies – Russia and China – want answers about its nuclear programme, and quickly.

While the council hopes Iran will comply with demands from the board of the UN nuclear watchdog, foreign ministers from the five permanent council nations - the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France – and Germany are meeting in Berlin today to discuss next steps if Tehran refuses.

France’s UN Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere said what the council would do in a month “will depend on Iran, and also the strategy we will discuss – and we will be ready”.

US Ambassador John Bolton said President George Bush’s administration would like Iran to follow Libya and give up the pursuit of nuclear weapons.

“The ball is back in Iran’s court and we’ll be here in 30 days to see what they say,” he said.

Meanwhile, Bolton said, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would be exploring with her colleagues at today’s meeting in Berlin how to prevent Iran from having nuclear weapons.

“The president has been unequivocal that it’s unacceptable for Iran to have nuclear weapons, and there are a whole range of steps we can take,” Bolton said, without elaborating. “I’m sure that’s what they’ll be discussing, in part, in Berlin.”

Iran’s UN Ambassador Javad Zarif said his government would respond to the Security Council statement, but he warned that “Iran is a country that is allergic to pressure and to threats and intimidation”.

“Iran is committed to non-proliferation and Iran does not want to produce nuclear weapons,” he said, but “Iran insists on its right to have access to nuclear technology for explicitly peaceful purposes. We will not abandon that claim to our legitimate right.”

France, Britain and Germany have been leading negotiations with Iran, but talks collapsed in August after Tehran rejected a package of economic and political incentives offered in return for a permanent end to uranium enrichment, which it had voluntarily suspended in 2004 under a deal with the Europeans.

Its subsequent moves to develop full-blown enrichment capabilities led the International Atomic Energy Agency’s 35-nation board to send the Iran file to the Security Council.

The presidential statement approved by the council was described by all council members as a first step to pressure Iran to resolve “outstanding questions” – first and foremost by suspending uranium enrichment, which can be used to make nuclear weapons, and reprocessing. It also calls for Iran to ratify the IAEA’s additional protocol, which allows unannounced inspections.

The Europeans initially proposed a much stronger statement but accepted a milder one to get the support of Russia and China, who oppose sanctions and want the IAEA to remain in the lead on Iran. At their insistence, the Europeans dropped a statement that the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction “constitutes a threat to international peace and security” – language that already appears in virtually all UN sanctions resolutions.

Bolton was asked what more the council could do if IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei reports that Iran hasn’t complied, given the difficulty in reaching agreement on the presidential statement.

“I’m confident that secretary Rice will be very persuasive and I’m hoping they’ll make a lot of progress,” he said. “She’s determined to do it.”

France’s de La Sabliere, asked whether the presidential statement was a first building block toward sanctions or military action, replied: “We are not talking about military action.”

“We the Europeans want a gradual, incremental and reversible approach,” he said. “This is the first step of the gradual approach. Again, it is reversible. If Iran does not comply, there will be a second step.”

But whether Russia and China would agree to tough action remains to be seen.

Russia’s UN Ambassador Andrey Denisov said Moscow has very strong suspicions about Iran’s nuclear programme – but no evidence – and wants Iran to comply with the IAEA demands.

“What we have done today, that is initial step – initial but very important, very strong and very clear,” he said.

Denisov said the council must move slowly.

“It is like a ladder. If you want to climb up, you must step on the first step, and then the second, and try not to leap,” he said. “That is the case.”

Denisov said one of the most important outcomes of the long and difficult negotiations on the statement was the council’s unity – and “I am convinced that the Security Council … will be able to do it next time as well.”