[Peace-discuss] setting up the next invasion as planned

[Dlind49 at aol.com]

Iran Resists Nuclear Statement Deadline
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

 
Filed at 3:41 p.m. ET

VIENNA, Austria (AP) -- Iran warned Thursday that it will not accept an 
October deadline to prove its nuclear aims are peaceful. But support grew at a key 
U.N. atomic agency meeting for that timeframe, which could set the stage for 
Security Council action against Tehran.

Diplomats said that by late Thursday substantially more than 20 members of 
the 35-nation International Atomic Energy Agency board of governors indicated 
they would vote in favor of the timeframe, with an unknown number of likely 
abstentions.

Russia, whose vote carries significant political weight, initially opposed 
the concept of a deadline but now was leaning toward abstaining instead of 
opposing, the diplomats said on condition of anonymity. China, another important 
board nation, also was likely to abstain, they said.

The second day of informal talks on how to plumb Iran's nuclear activities 
continued outside the board meeting after supporters of the deadline asked for 
more time to get additional backing for their stance.

The meeting, suspended on Wednesday, was expected to reconvene Friday to vote 
on the timeframe -- specifically, a U.S.-backed resolution urging Iran 
essentially to disprove by October that it has a covert nuclear weapons program.

Implicitly warning that it might severe all ties with the agency, Iran said 
it would fight any deadline attempt.

``We will oppose that,'' chief Iranian delegate Ali Akbar Salehi told The 
Associated Press. ``Nobody is in a position to impose a deadline on a sovereign 
country.''

In Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital, Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi 
said any resolution coming down hard on his country ``could make the situation 
more complicated.''

While not outlining consequences, the resolution sets up the possibility of 
U.N. Security Council involvement. That would happen if the board rules at its 
November meeting that Iran ignored IAEA demands and was in noncompliance of 
part of the Nonproliferation Treaty banning the spread of nuclear arms.

The United States had been pushing for a resolution finding Iran in 
noncompliance at this meeting. But lack of support from most other board members 
scuttled that plan.

The U.S.-backed push for a deadline got a boost after the head of the IAEA 
supported it Wednesday, saying he favored ``an immediate disclosure of all 
nuclear activities'' on the part of Iran.

Reflecting the concerns driving America and its allies, IAEA Director General 
Mohammed ElBaradei, in separate comments, warned that he and his agency might 
soon be unable to verify whether Tehran was diverting nuclear material into a 
weapons program unless Iran quickly agreed to fully cooperate. Those fears, 
expressed at a closed session of the board meeting, were relayed by diplomats 
present.

Before the meeting adjourned, chief U.S. delegate Kenneth Brill called Iran 
to task based on a report before the board outlining discrepancies between its 
past statements on its nuclear program and IAEA findings. The report, by 
ElBaradei, lists the discovery of traces of weapons-grade enriched uranium and 
other evidence that critics say point to a weapons program.

Tehran insists its programs are for generating electricity and says its 
equipment was ``contaminated'' with enriched uranium by a previous owner.

The U.S.-backed draft up for vote Friday expresses ``grave concern'' that 
Iran still cannot provide assurances it is not conducting secret nuclear programs 
more than a year after being called to do so by the IAEA.

It also calls on Iran to ``provide accelerated cooperation and full 
transparency'' to allow the agency to clear up Tehran's nuclear question marks.

As well, it urges Iran to make sure there are ``no further failures'' in 
reporting obligations and calls on it to ``suspend all further uranium 
enrichment-related activities, including the further introduction of nuclear material'' 
into a facility where IAEA inspectors found traces of the weapons-grade uranium.

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On the Net:

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