Iran also came in for censure from another quarter at the opening session of the IAEA’s 35-nation board, with the introduction of a resolution taking Tehran to task on a broad range of issues linked to international concerns that it may be seeking to make nuclear weapons. Significantly, diplomats at the meeting said the resolution was signed not only by Western powers - the United States, Britain, France, and Germany - but also by Russia and China.
For strategic and economic reasons, Moscow and Beijing have sided with Tehran in the past. They have prevented several Western attempts to slap new UN sanctions on Iran for its nuclear defiance or succeeded in watering down their severity.
They did not formally endorse the last IAEA resolution critical of Iran in 2006. Their backing for the document at the Vienna meeting yesterday thus reflected broad international disenchantment with Tehran.
It also appeared to signal possible support for any new Western push for a fourth set of Security Council sanctions, should Tehran continue shunning international overtures meant to reach agreements that reduce concerns about its nuclear ambitions. In Tehran, state TV quoted Iran’s envoy to the UN agency, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, as saying, “The Western countries should not spoil the positive atmosphere. They should allow cooperation between Iran and the agency to continue its positive trend.’’
The IAEA resolution criticized Iran for defying a UN Security Council ban on uranium enrichment - the source of both nuclear fuel and the fissile core of warheads. Western diplomats said they expected about two-thirds of the board to support the resolution in a vote, likely today.
