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IAEA Board Urges Iran to Resume Nuclear Activities Freeze
The International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors today adopted a resolution calling on Iran to “re-establish full suspension of all enrichment related activities,” Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Aug. 10). The text, drafted by the European Union, left available the option of continued negotiations with Tehran if it complies, an official said. Iran had earlier warned that it would abandon its nuclear freeze agreement with the European Union entirely if the document were adopted. “The Paris accord will become void if the resolution proposed by the Europeans is adopted,” said Mohammad Saeedi, deputy head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Aug. 11). The United States hopes the meeting will “send Iran a strong message,” said State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli. “What we’re trying to do, frankly, is to give Iran a chance to do the right thing,” he said (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Aug. 11). The United States also yesterday criticized Iran for removing IAEA seals from nuclear equipment at Isfahan, AFP reported. The “breaking of seals is yet another sign of Iran’s disregard for international concerns,” Matt Boland, spokesman for the U.S. mission to international organizations in Vienna, told AFP. Boland expressed continued U.S. support for the European Union’s diplomatic effort to resolve the standoff (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Aug. 10). A senior Iranian official yesterday warned the European Union and the United States against referring his country to the Security Council, Reuters reported. “I think that would be a grave miscalculation by the U.S. and particularly by Europe to move towards the path of confrontation,” chief Iranian IAEA delegate Sirus Naseri told the BBC’s “Newsnight” program. “It will be (a) big, big mistake,” he said (Reuters, Aug. 10). China, a veto-wielding member of the Security Council, yesterday voiced opposition to referring Iran to the body for possible sanctions, Reuters reported. “I think it is up to [the International Atomic Energy Agency] to come up with a solution. I think it is not up to the Security Council,” said China’s U.N. ambassador, Wang Guangya (Reuters, Aug. 10). South African President Thabo Mbeki met Hassan Rohani, Iran’s former chief nuclear negotiator, two weeks ago to discuss a compromise proposal, the Financial Times reported. His plan calls for providing South African uranium to Iran for conversion and then returning the material to South Africa for enrichment. While Tehran welcomed the proposal, officials said it would only be an interim confidence-building measure and that Iran remains committed to developing a complete fuel cycle. “For further confidence-building we are ready to sell the output to a third country in cooperation with the EU and under the IAEA supervision,” said Ali Aga-Mohammadi, spokesman for Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. European officials, however, said they were not optimistic about the proposal (Bozorgmehr/Dinmore, Financial Times, Aug. 10).
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