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Seals come off at Iran's uranium facility, world yawns
LONDON — Iran has successfully avoided censure by the international community despite its renewal of uranium conversion.
On Aug. 8, Iran removed IAEA seals from a uranium conversion facility in Isfahan, a move that reopened the nuclear plant for operation after a nearly two-year lull.
The UN's International Atomic Energy Agency's board of governors did not send the issue to the United Nations Security Council, where Iran could come under sanctions, Middle East Newsline reported.
Instead, in a resolution on Thursday, the agency's 35-nation board of governors, again offered to resolve the dispute with Iran through dialogue. The resolution, influenced by Third World allies of Iran, did not threaten sanctions.
Western diplomatic sources said that over the last two years Iran has offered cooperation and aid to numerous Third World countries in exchange for support of Teheran's nuclear program. Iran, a major energy exporter, has signed defense and other cooperation agreements with African and Asian states.
"The resolution on Iran was just adopted without a vote by consensus, full consensus," IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said. "All 35 members of the board agreed to the language of the resolution text."
Western diplomatic sources said the board could be convened on Sept. 3 to determine whether Iran was continuing with uranium conversion activities.
Over the next few weeks, the sources said, the European Union would resume negotiations with Teheran.
The agency urged Iran to "reestablish full suspension of all enrichment-related activities including the production of feed material, including through tests of production at the uranium conversion facility."
The board did not vote on the resolution, drafted by Britain, France and Germany and endorsed on the third day of a session marked by closed-door discussions.
The resolution called on Iran to restore the full suspension of all enrichment-related activities on a "non-legally binding basis." As a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran has the right to enrich uranium.
The board also received a statement from the non-aligned movement that urged that the Iranian issue be resolved through dialogue. The non-aligned movement blocked U.S. efforts to refer the Iranian crisis to the Security Council.
"All problems should be resolved through dialogue and peaceful means, and in this regard calls on EU-3 and Iran to continue with their dialogue with the view to achieving a mutually long-term agreement in the mandate of the IAEA.," the statement by non-aligned nations said.
Iran, which stressed that its uranium enrichment suspension had been voluntary, opposed the IAEA resolution and pledged to continue nuclear fuel work. Iran's representative to the IAEA, Cyrus Nasseri, said Teheran would complete the nuclear fuel cycle and become an exporter by 2015.
"Iran will not bend," Nasseri said. "Iran will be a nuclear fuel producer and supplier within a decade."
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