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Differences Simmer in U.N. Security Council on Iran
Disagreement on how to handle Iran’s potential resistance to a demand for Tehran to stop nuclear activities within 30 days has emerged among members of the U.N. Security Council, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday (see GSN, March 30). Foreign ministers from the five permanent U.N. Security Council members and Germany met in Berlin yesterday to consider the issue. Russia and China argued that Tehran must not face sanctions if the declaration is not followed. “Russia does not believe that sanctions would serve the purpose of settling the various issues,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. Lavrov questioned U.S. accusations that Iran’s nuclear program is specifically targeted at developing weapons, the Associated Press reported. “Before we call any situation a threat, we need facts … (and) so far they have not been provided,” he said (George Jahn, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, March 30). Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo warned that use of force against Iran would hurt the situation. “The Chinese side feels there has already been enough turmoil in the Middle East and we do not want to see more turmoil introduced into the region,” he said. International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei joined the opposition to sanctions, AFP reported. “Sanctions are a bad idea. We are not facing an imminent threat,” he said. A senior U.S. State Department official said that all nations meeting in Berlin shared an “acute concern” over Iran’s nuclear program. “A number” of ministers, including U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, argued that sanctions need to be considered at some time. “I am not saying there is unanimity about this. But what was interesting was that (the) issue was joined for the first time at a P-5 meeting,” the official said. It is not known what would happen if the 30-day deadline passes and Iran has not stopped uranium enrichment activity. “We are thinking about positive steps as well as negative steps, in conjunction with Russia, with China and with all other partners, depending on Iran's response,” said French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy. Iran has indicated it does not plan to obey the U.N. demand. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki yesterday said the U.N. declaration was an “angry precedent” and a “bad move.” Rice, on the other hand, called the declaration “a strong sign to Iran that negotiation not confrontation should be their course.” “It is now up to Iran to make a choice ... between isolation brought about by its own actions or a return to the negotiating table,” said German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Tehran had “miscalculated” the resolve of the Security Council members. “They thought the international community would be divided on this issue but, truthfully, it has become more and more united,” Straw said. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, speaking in New York, praised the “spirit of consensus” among members of the Security Council. He said Tehran must “heed the international community's concerns” and “cooperate fully with its obligations under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and successive International Atomic Energy Agency resolutions” (Agence France-Presse I/TODAYOnline.com, March 30). One official involved with the talks in Germany said “there was lots of heated discussion in the meeting” about what to do if Iran misses the deadline, the Financial Times reported. “This isn’t the time to try and come to a conclusion about what the next step is,” Rice said. “It’s an opening discussion about those next steps” (Financial Times, March 31). Gregory Schulte, U.S. ambassador to the U.N. nuclear watchdog, said the Security Council should consider sanctions if Iran does not stop nuclear activity, AFP reported. “For diplomacy to succeed we will need to use the full range of diplomatic tools available to the Security Council,” he said today in Budapest. “We will need to use the tool of transformation diplomacy from financial measures to the proliferation security initiatives to target Iran's procurement networks,” he added. However, Schulte did not rule out a diplomatic solution to the standoff. “The opportunity for a negotiated solution is still on the table,” he said (Agence France-Presse II, March 31). Iranian Foreign Minster Mottaki yesterday formally offered to establish a “regional consortium” to enrich fuel for Tehran, which apparently would operate from within Iran, AFP reported. Mottaki, referring to a previous proposal from Tehran on the “involvement of foreign companies in the Iranian fuel cycle program,” said, “One possibility to resolve the issue could be the establishment of a regional consortium on fuel-cycle development.” The partnership would involve “regional countries which have already developed fuel cycle programs at the national level and intend to develop further their program for civilian purposes,” he said. “Countries outside the region may also participate in such regional arrangements based on the modalities agreed between the parties,” Mottaki added. Mottaki did not offer details or the names of countries that would be involved (Agence France-Presse III/OutlookIndia.com, March 30).
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