Iran lobbies UN nuclear agency ahead of report

Diplomats in Vienna said they expected UN nuclear chief Mohamed ElBaradei to find that Iran failed to meet today’s deadline for complying with council requests to suspend uranium enrichment, setting the stage for a confrontation at the Security Council.

If Iran does not comply, the council is likely to consider punitive measures against the Islamic republic.

While Russia and China have been reluctant to endorse sanctions, the council’s three other veto-wielding members say a strong response is in order.

The United States, France and Britain say if Tehran does not meet the International Atomic Energy Agency deadline, they will make the enrichment demand and other conditions compulsory and they want punitive measures to stay on the table.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said it was time for the Security Council to act if the world body wished to remain credible.

Yesterday, Iran’s deputy nuclear chief, Mohammad Saeedi, met with Olli Heinonen, the IAEA’s deputy director general in charge of Iran’s nuclear file, handing over material on Tehran’s nuclear programme in a bid to stave off sanctions.