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Puck
The Texan
Joined: 05 Jan 2004
Posts: 5596
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 Sat Feb 04, 2006 9:35 pm Iran Defiant in Face of Referral to U.N. Security Council |
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Iran to Resume Nuke Program in Face of Referral to U.N. Security Council
Saturday, February 04, 2006
VIENNA, Austria � The International Atomic Energy Agency reported Iran to the U.N. Security Council on Saturday over fears it wants to produce nuclear arms, raising the stakes in the diplomatic confrontation and prompting Tehran to threaten immediate retaliation.
Of the board's 35 member nations, 27 voted for referral, reflecting more than two years of intense lobbying by the United States and its allies to enlist broad backing for such a move.
Washington critics Cuba, Venezuela and Syria voted against referral, and the other five nations abstained.
Still, the near consensus came at a price for Washington. Long an advocate of firm Security Council action against Iran, including possible political and economic sanctions, the Americans had to settle for what is essentially symbolic referral, for now.
After years of opposition, Russia and China backed the referral last week, bringing support from other nations � including India � that had been waiting for their lead. But in return, Moscow and Beijing demanded that the Americans � and France and Britain, the two other veto-wielding Security Council members � agree to let the Iran issue rest until at least March.
That is when the IAEA board meets again to review the agency's investigation of Iran's nuclear program and its compliance with board demands that it renounce uranium enrichment. That process can produce either fuel for a nuclear reactor or the material needed to build a warhead.
"The path chosen by Iran's new leaders � threats, concealment, and breaking international agreements and IAEA seals � will not succeed and will not be tolerated by the international community," President Bush said in a statement.
Iran remained defiant, threatening to do precisely what referral was meant to prevent. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ordered the resumption of uranium enrichment and an end to snap IAEA inspections of its nuclear facilities, according to state television.
"As of Sunday, the voluntary implementation of the additional protocol and other cooperation beyond the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty has to be suspended under the law," Ahmadinejad said in a letter to Vice President Gholamreza Aghazadeh, who also is the head of the nation's nuclear agency.
Javed Vaeidi, deputy head of Iran's powerful National Security Council, also said his country "now has to implement fuller scale of enrichment."
Iran says it wants to enrich only to make nuclear fuel for generating electricity, but concerns that it might misuse the technology accelerated the chain of events that led to Saturday's referral to the Security Council. Tehran took IAEA seals off enrichment equipment Jan. 10 and said it would resume small-scale activities.
Vaeidi also said a proposal to enrich Iranian uranium in Russia was dead.
Moscow has suggested that Iran shift its plan for large-scale enrichment of uranium to Russian territory to alleviate international concern Iran might use the process to develop an atomic bomb.
Other Iranian comment reflected Tehran's fury at Washington. The Islamic Republic News Agency quoted Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar describing U.S. leaders as "terrorists and the main axis of evil in the world."
Najjar was responding to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who at a high-level security conference in Munich, Germany, repeated Washington's view of Iran as the "world's leading state sponsor of terrorism."
Sen. John McCain, speaking at the same conference, said military action could not be ruled out if diplomatic efforts fail to stop Iran from developing a nuclear bomb.
European leaders expressed support for the referral, through a resolution drafted by France, Britain and Germany on behalf of the European Union.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the vote showed "the international community's determination to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons in the Middle East."
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said through a spokesman that he hoped the vote would send "a clear signal to Iran that it must comply with the demands of the international community."
Russia's government urged Iran to "respond constructively" to the IAEA's decision, "including the restoration of a voluntary moratorium on all uranium enrichment works."
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the "convincing" vote sent a "clear signal to Tehran" to take account of international concerns.
French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said he was "very concerned and upset" by Iran's decision to retaliate.
The IAEA resolution links Tehran's referral to the country's breaches of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and the lack of confidence it is not trying to make weapons.
The text expresses "serious concerns about Iran's nuclear program" and recalls "Iran's many failures and breaches of its obligations" to the arms control treaty. It also expresses "the absence of confidence that Iran's nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes."
The resolution says IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei should "report to the Security Council" the steps Iran needs to take to dispel suspicions about its nuclear ambitions.
These include that it return to freezing uranium enrichment; consider stopping construction of a heavy-water reactor that could be the source of plutonium; formally ratify the agreement allowing the IAEA greater inspecting authority; and give the nuclear watchdog more power in its investigation of Iran's nuclear program.
The draft also asks that ElBaradei share with the Security Council his report to the March 6 IAEA board session and any subsequent resolution.
Chief British IAEA delegate Peter Jenkins urged Iran to heed the resolution before March, warning: "Should Iran fail to comply ... it will fall to the Security Council to bring additional pressure to bear."
His American counterpart, Gregory L. Schulte, indirectly acknowledged that the Security Council's hands were tied until March, saying: "We're not talking about sanctions at this stage."
But Straw said that if Iran failed to use the March window of opportunity, Security Council action would be "almost inevitable."
A senior European diplomat familiar with the issue said there was general agreement among the five permanent Security Council members that � if Iran remains defiant beyond March 6 � the council would slowly increase pressure.
A first step could be a council declaration urging Iran to comply with the resolution, the diplomat said on condition of anonymity because the strategy was confidential.
Agreement on the final wording of the text was achieved overnight, only after Washington compromised on a dispute with Egypt over linking fears about Tehran's atomic program to a Middle East zone free of weapons of mass destruction � an indirect reference to Israel.
The final resolution recognized "that a solution to the Iranian issue would contribute to global nonproliferation efforts and ... the objective of a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction, including their means of delivery."
Israel, which is not an IAEA board member, welcomed Iran's referral and the call for a nuclear-free Middle East. Experts say Israel has the world's sixth-largest stockpile of nuclear weapons, but the Jewish state neither acknowledges nor denies having such a program.
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Republican_Man
STV's Premier Conservative
Joined: 26 Mar 2004
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| Sat Feb 04, 2006 9:36 pm |
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Idiots. What do they expect us to do--nothing?
Bah. I say we need sanctions. We need to squeeze them to the point where they stop enriching uranium.
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"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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webtaz99
Commodore
Joined: 13 Nov 2003
Posts: 1229
Location: The Other Side
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| Sun Feb 05, 2006 1:42 am |
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I have seen many experts claim that IF you have the fissionable materials, making a nuke is "pretty easy". As long as they are enriching uranium, I don't think we can "squeeze" hard enough to stop them.
I seem to remember sanctions against a certain neighbor of Iran which mainly served to make life for the average citizen worse, without significantly altering the government's behavior.
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"History is made at night! Character is who you are in the dark." (Lord John Whorfin)
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Republican_Man
STV's Premier Conservative
Joined: 26 Mar 2004
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| Sun Feb 05, 2006 1:53 am |
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I do as well. They didn't work. But Iraq was a different situation. Oil for Food ring a bell?
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"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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Republican_Man
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Joined: 26 Mar 2004
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| Sun Feb 05, 2006 5:04 pm |
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| Quote: | Iran Ends Cooperation With U.N., Continues Talks With Moscow
UNITED NATIONS � Now that the U.N. atomic watchdog agency has agreed to report Iran to the Security Council, diplomats have vastly different notions about how the body should be involved in negotiations to make sure Iran is not trying to develop a nuclear weapon.
The five permanent council members are split, with the United States, Britain and France hoping to pressure Iran into backing down with the ultimate threat of sanctions.
However, China and Russia do not want to incite Tehran and would prefer that the council play a limited role. The Iranian allies want the International Atomic Energy Agency to keep the lead in handling Iran.
The Iranian government on Sunday ended all voluntary cooperation with the IAEA, saying it would start uranium enrichment and reject surprise inspections of its facilities. Uranium enriched to a low degree can be used for nuclear reactors, while highly enriched uranium is suitable for warheads.
However, in an apparent reversal, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said the government was open to negotiations on Moscow's proposal that Iran shift its plan for large-scale enrichment to Russian territory in an effort to allay suspicions. A day earlier, an Iran representative at the IAEA meeting said that proposal was "dead."
For the U.S.-led faction, the IAEA's decision Saturday to report Iran represented a great success. U.S. Ambassador John Bolton had pushed for Iran to be brought before the council since his days as U.S. undersecretary of state for arms control and international security in 2001-2005.
"It inevitably changes the political dynamic when their nuclear weapons program has been considered in the Security Council, which is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security by the U.N. charter, rather than in a specific agency of the U.N. system," Bolton said Friday.
"The Iranians know full well what they're doing, which is trying to acquire a nuclear weapons capability, and I understand why they don't want people talking about it in the full light of day."
In recent days, the diplomatic debate at the United Nations on the issue has focused on two words -- "reporting" Iran to the council or "referring" it.
The distinction reflects a fundamental difference in view. The Russians and Chinese do not mind if the council is informed of the IAEA's dealings with Iran, but they do not want the IAEA to "refer" Iran to the council. That, they believe, would give the impression that the IAEA was washing its hands of Iran and asking the council to take the lead.
"We and China can accept informing of the Security Council, which is quite normal," Russia's U.N. Ambassador Andrey Denisov said. "That is the right of the Security Council to get any information it needs. But not referral, not official submitting, not handing it to the Security Council."
The debate is so important in part because the Security Council is unique among U.N. institutions as the lone body with the power to impose sanctions or other punitive measures, deploy peacekeeping missions, and grant or deny legitimacy to military action.
And though its resolutions sometimes go ignored or unheeded, there is also a symbolic shaming that goes along with bringing a country before a body whose mandate is to maintain international peace and security.
In Iran's case, the council's options include issuing a public statement without imposing any action or adopting a resolution demanding Iran stop its activities and threatening punishment if it does not. The punishment could include an oil embargo, asset freeze and travel ban.
Standing in the way of any such action is China, which has been blunt about its distaste for punitive measures.
"I think, as a matter of principle, China never supports sanctions as a way of exercising pressure because it is always the people that would be hurt," China's U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya said.
For at least a month, in the meantime, the council will not do anything publicly. According to the IAEA decision passed Saturday, the council must wait until the IAEA's Board of Governors meets again next month before considering what to do about Iran.
One precedent is North Korea, which wrangled with many of the same players in 1993 and 1994 over its nuclear program. Through early 1994, the United States pushed hard for the council to impose sanctions but ultimately agreed to drop the threat after North Korea agreed in separate negotiations to freeze its nuclear program.
While there had been months of behind-the-scenes debate in the council, its lone resolution came in May 1993, when it urged North Korea to reconsider its decision to withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
Colin Keating, an analyst who sat on the council at the time as New Zealand's ambassador, said diplomats hoped for a similar result with Iran, with most discussions about its program taking place outside the Security Council chamber.
"This is a process which everybody is focused on trying to get a particular outcome, and ultimately the passage of a resolution with sanctions is probably a failure of the exercise rather than a success," Keating said.
"This is going to be an ongoing process of many months and it's one in which there will be lots of swirling around and probably very few public meetings of the council and a lot of the action will take place off stage."
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This situation just isn't looking good....
EDIT: Well, it looks like there's still a chance, as they're willing to meet with certain states still, but I'm not going to believe that things are going to get better until things prove to be as such.
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"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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Republican_Man
STV's Premier Conservative
Joined: 26 Mar 2004
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| Mon Feb 06, 2006 6:36 pm |
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More news on the Iran front.
| Quote: | Iran to Nuke Watchdog: Remove Surveillance
VIENNA, Austria � Iran told the International Atomic Energy Agency to remove surveillance cameras and agency seals from sites and nuclear equipment by the end of next week, the U.N. watchdog agency said Monday.
Iran's demands came two days after the IAEA reported Tehran to the Security Council over its disputed atomic program. The council has the power to impose economic and political sanctions.
In a confidential report to the IAEA's 35-member board, agency head Mohamed ElBaradei said Iran also announced a sharp reduction in the number and kind of inspections IAEA experts will be allowed, effective immediately.
The report was dated Monday and made available to The Associated Press.
The moves were expected. Iranian officials had repeatedly warned they would stop honoring the so-called "Additional Protocol" to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty � an agreement giving IAEA inspectors greater inspecting authority � if the IAEA board referred their country to the Security Council.
A diplomat close to the Vienna-based IAEA told the AP that Iran had also made good on another threat � formally setting a date for resuming full-scale work on its uranium enrichment program, which can make either fuel or the nuclear core of warheads.
The diplomat, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the matter was confidential, refused to divulge the date set by Ali Larijani, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, in a letter received Monday by ElBaradei.
In his brief report, ElBaradei cited E. Khalilipour, vice president of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, as saying: "From the date of this letter, all voluntarily suspended non-legally binding measures including the provisions of the Additional Protocol and even beyond that will be suspended."
Calling on the agency to sharply reduce the number of inspectors in Iran, Khalilipour added: "All the Agency's containment and surveillance measures which were in place beyond the normal Agency safeguards measures should be removed by mid-February 2006."
Earlier, Russia's foreign minister warned against threatening Iran over its nuclear program after Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld reportedly agreed with a German interviewer that all options, including military response, remained on the table.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called for talks to continue with Tehran, adding: "I think that at the current stage, it is important not to make guesses about what will happen and even more important not to make threats."
Lavrov said the use of force would be possible only if the United Nations consented.
Rumsfeld, in an interview with the German daily newspaper Handelsblatt, was asked if all options, including the military one, were on the table with Iran.
"That's right," Rumsfeld responded, according to Handelsblatt's print edition Monday.
In Norway, China's foreign minister urged continued diplomatic efforts to resolve the standoff.
"A diplomatic solution serves the common interest," Li Zhaoxing said during an official visit. "We are still working on our Iranian colleagues to cherish negotiations."
However, Li warned that time was "already pressing" for efforts to resolve the dispute before it reaches the Security Council.
Li declined to stay whether China would support sanctions against Iran.
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We can only pray that something good can come...Nothing good so far...
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"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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WeAz
Commodore
Joined: 03 Apr 2004
Posts: 1519
Location: Where you aren't
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| Mon Feb 06, 2006 9:13 pm |
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I hope we don't go to war again, but if we do, at least the cause of the war will be straight with no speculation, no more people accusing Bush of going to war over oil, that stuff makes me kind of sick
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