World powers fall short of reporting Iran to New York

World powers fall short of reporting Iran to New York

The UN atomic watchdog’s board was expected on Thursday to pass a resolution of “deep and increasing concern” about Iran’s nuclear activities after a damning new report from the Vienna-based body.

But the text, proposed at the International Atomic Energy Agency by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, Germany and 12 others, stops short of reporting Iran to New York or setting Tehran a deadline to comply.

With a simple majority of the IAEA’s 35-nation board of governors already in favour, the resolution, calling on Iran to comply “without delay with its obligations”, was expected to be approved later on Friday.

“There is a very large majority of countries who would like the resolution to be adopted by consensus,” negating even the need for a vote, one European diplomat told AFP on Friday.

But to assuage Chinese and Russian misgivings, the resolution sets no deadline on Iran, calling instead for IAEA head Yukiya Amano to report to the watchdog’s board in March on Tehran’s “implementation of this resolution.”

Amano said on Wednesday he had written to Iran on November 2 proposing a “high-level” visit to Tehran, saying “clarifying all outstanding issues was in the interests of Iran, and other countries.”

“It is clear that Iran has a case to answer,” he told reporters.

Last week, the IAEA came the closest yet to accusing Iran outright of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, in a report immediately rejected by the Islamic republic as “baseless.”