Western nations drop plan for IAEA resolution censoring Iran

Mar 4, 2008, 12:24 GMT

Vienna - Disputes between IAEA member states over Iran's nuclear issue led to western nations on Tuesday dropping a draft resolution urging Iran to cooperate fully with the UN nuclear watchdog, diplomats in Vienna said.

'There will be no resolution,' a European diplomat told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, confirming earlier comments by other western diplomats present at the week-long meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA.

The European-sponsored resolution - the first in two years - had aimed at reaffirming the 'critical importance of a complete and correct statement by Iran of all its past and present nuclear activities,' a draft of the paper said.

Deliberations in Vienna had been overshadowed by Iran's dismissal of intelligence on alleged weaponization studies in connection with Iran's nuclear programme, termed a 'matter of grave concern' by Director General Mohamed ElBaradei in his statement to the IAEA's Board of Governors on Monday.

Russia and China, who had supported the UN Security Council resolution adopted on Monday, seemed satisfied that this move put enough pressure on Iran to comply with UN demands.

Members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) made very clear that they were not supporting any resolution on Iran at this point.

'We don't think there is sentiment for a draft resolution in our opinion that will really damage the environment of cooperation and confidence building that had prevailed between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the agency,' Cuba's chief delegate Norma Coicochea Estenoz told journalists.

On Monday, the United Nations Security Council adopted a third sanctions resolution against Iran, expanding travel bans on individuals involved in Iran's nuclear programme, as well as banning the sale of so-called dual-use items, which could be used in a nuclear programme.

The Security Council also demanded Iran to suspend its controversial uranium enrichment drive, a demand Tehran had ignored in the past, maintaining UN resolutions had no legal basis.

Iran was referred to the Security Council two years ago by the IAEA board for violating its obligations to the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty.

Western nations fear that the country, which hid its nuclear programme from the IAEA for almost two decades, was secretly pursuing nuclear weapons, a charge Iran strongly denies.