Global Security Newswire

The International Atomic Energy Agency's 151 member nations failed to achieve consensus last week on a measure relating to inspections for ensuring civilian nuclear materials and technologies are not turned toward weapons operations, Reuters reported (see GSN, Sept. 26).

The yearly IAEA General Conference typically endorses various statements establishing broad regulatory plans and recommendations, often with ambiguous phrasing, according to Reuters. Last week's gathering did not back a resolution, introduced by roughly 30 European and other Western governments, dubbed "Strengthening the effectiveness and improving the efficiency of the safeguards system and application of the model Additional Protocol."

Cuba, Egypt and Iran effectively thwarted the resolution by stonewalling bids to obtain agreement on its adoption, according to two Western envoys.

The resolution's failure would not affect IAEA auditing efforts, one of the U.N. nuclear watchdog's key duties within the global nonproliferation regime, one of the officials said. Still, "visually it is a demonstration of division in an important area," he said.

"Egypt, Iran and Cuba refused to accept any resolution on procedural grounds," the envoy said, adding they had called for the measure to create a function for the Vienna, Austria-based organization in eliminating nuclear weapons. The demand by the three nations, which represent the 116-member Nonaligned Movement at the U.N. agency, seemed to demonstrate dissatisfaction with the rate that present atomic abolition efforts are advancing, according to Reuters.

The official said giving the agency such a mandate was out of the question for the five recognized nuclear powers: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

A separate Western envoy criticized Cuba, Egypt and Iran for their action, asserting they had shown "a willingness to destroy any international consensus on the issue" (Fredrik Dahl, Reuters, Sept. 23).