Iran Urged to Resume Nuclear Moratorium After IAEA Vote

A top Russian official today urged Iran to resume a moratorium on its uranium enrichment program if Tehran hopes to take part in a proposed joint venture to enrich its uranium in Russia, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Feb. 3).

“Our proposal on creating a joint enterprise remains in force,” Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak told Interfax. “Its fulfillment is possible if Iran returns to the moratorium as is set out in the resolution adopted by the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency.”

The agency’s governing board on Saturday voted to send the matter Iran’s controversial nuclear activities to the U.N. Security Council, which could impose sanctions or other penalties if Iran fails to comply with agency guidelines. Tehran quickly said it would resume uranium enrichment and put an end to short-notice international inspections of its nuclear facilities, AP reported.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov told Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine daily that he was “still hoping for a sensible compromise that Iran would engage in for the sake of its own interests.”

“We have made a good proposal. The Iranian leadership must decide shortly,” Ivanov said (Associated Press I/MosNews.com, Feb. 6).

On Saturday, Javad Vaidi, deputy head of the Iranian National Security Council, said there was “no adequate reason to pursue the Russian plan” after the IAEA decision to report Iran to the Security Council. Iran yesterday backtracked, saying it would hold talks with Moscow on the proposal, AP reported.

“The situation has changed. Still, we will attend talks with Russia on Feb. 16,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi (Ali Akbar Dareini, Associated Press II/RedNova.com, Feb. 5).

Only Cuba, Syria and Venezuela voted against the European-drafted resolution reporting Iran to the Security Council, while Algeria, Belarus, Indonesia, Libya and South Africa abstained from the 27-3 decision, the New York Times reported yesterday.

Following the vote, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ordered the country’s nuclear commission to resume uranium enrichment activities. In his letter, he wrote that “the nuclear agency has voted under pressure by few countries and has ignored our extensive cooperation and negated our legal right,” the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported (Elaine Sciolino, New York Times, Feb. 5).

“The era of coercion and domination has ended,” Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by IRNA. “Issue as many resolutions like this as you want and make yourself happy. You can’t prevent the progress of the Iranian nation.”

“In the name of the IAEA they want to visit all our nuclear facilities and learn our defense capabilities, but we won’t allow them to do this,” he said (Ali Akbar Dareini, Associated Press III/Yahoo!News, Feb. 6).

While Ahmadinejad said Tehran would no longer observe the terms of the Additional Protocol to its IAEA safeguards agreement, according to the Times, “all the country’s peaceful activities will remain within the framework of the” Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, he said.

Iran said yesterday that industrial-scale uranium enrichment work would resume in “due course,” Agence France-Presse reported.

“The order from the president lifts the voluntary restrictions and Iran will resume its work,” said government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Feb. 6).

The Security Council is not expected to take any action against Iran until March, when IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei is expected to release a comprehensive report on Tehran’s activities, the Times reported.

The White House on Saturday described the agency’s vote as “a clear message” to Iran.

“Iran’s true interests lie in working with the international community to enjoy the benefits of peaceful nuclear energy, not in isolating Iran by continuing to develop the capability to build nuclear weapons,” President George W. Bush said in the statement.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Iran must suspend its nuclear activities, cooperate on inspections and resume negotiations in order to avoid Security Council penalties, the Times reported.

The resolution passed after Washington finally agreed late Friday to accept a clause expressing support for a WMD-free Middle East. The clause, which indirectly criticized Israel for its undeclared nuclear arsenal, was demanded by Egypt and also had support from China, the European powers and Russia.

“A solution to the Iranian issue would contribute to global nonproliferation efforts and to realizing the objective of a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction, including their means of delivery,” the clause says.

China and Russia, meanwhile, released separate statements indicating that they did not support the two U.S. arguments for the referral: Iran’s noncompliance with its treaty obligations and the interest of peace and security.

“This problem will be solved within the framework of the IAEA without additional interference,” said Russian Ambassador Grigory Berdennikov (Sciolino, New York Times, Feb. 5).

While several European Union officials praised the IAEA vote, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said he was “very concerned and upset” by Iran's decision to retaliate by threatening to resume enrichment, AP reported.

Russia urged Iran to “respond constructively” to the decision, “including the restoration of a voluntary moratorium on all uranium enrichment works.”

A senior European diplomat said the five permanent Security Council members would increase pressure if Iran remains defiant beyond March 6, AP reported (George Jahn, Associated Press IV/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Feb. 5).

A top U.S. intelligence official said yesterday that Iran seems intent on pursuing its nuclear program, regardless of threats of sanctions, AP reported.

“There may be the potential there to dissuade them, but right now they appear to be very, very determined,” Gen. Michael Hayden, principal deputy national intelligence director, told “Fox News Sunday.”

“Our overall intelligence community estimate is that Iran is determined to acquire nuclear weapons,” he said. “That fact shapes our policy, and it appears to be shaping the policy of other nations as well” (Associated Press V/Yahoo!News, Feb. 5).

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Saturday accused Iran of being the world’s top sponsor of terrorism, Reuters reported.

“The Iranian regime is today the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism,” Rumsfeld said. “The world does not want, and must work together to prevent, a nuclear Iran.”

Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar told Iranian state television that Rumsfeld’s comments were “outrageous remarks and a ridiculous projection by the White House leaders” (Louis Charbonneau, Reuters, Feb. 4).

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) said on Saturday that the United States must be prepared to take military action against Iran, AP reported.

Asked if Congress is willing to authorize use of force against Iran, First said, “The answer is yes, absolutely.”

“We cannot allow Iran to become a nuclear nation,” he said. “We need to use diplomatic sanctions. If that doesn’t work, economic sanctions, and if that doesn’t work, the potential for military use has to be on the table” (Associated Press VI/KCTV5.com, Feb. 5).

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