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Britain, France and Germany on Tuesday presented a draft resolution to the UN atomic agency sharply criticizing Iran for failing to answer questions about alleged nuclear weapons activities but pressing for continued cooperation with Tehran, diplomats said. The resolution "deplores" that Iran's "cooperation has not been complete, timely and proactive," according to extracts read to AFP by diplomats. But it "acknowledges Iranian cooperation in responding to agency requests for access to locations including workshops" on military sites. "It is a message. It makes it clear what we expect from them", a diplomat who asked not to be named told AFP. The resolution is modeled on a report written by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) ahead of a meeting of the agency's 35-nation board of governors starting next Monday, the diplomat said. The United States charges that Iran is secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons and should be taken to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions. But it does not have support for this at the IAEA, especially since the EU-3 have since last October backed an agreement they worked out with Iran for cooperation in resolving questions about its nuclear program. A US official said the United States "feels very sure that the IAEA will take the appropriate firm action" on Iran. A Western diplomat said the resolution had "strong language and was moving towards where the United States wants to be." Diplomats said even the EU-3 was getting impatient with Iran, as the IAEA has been investigating the Iranian program since February 2003 with Iran consistently failing to deliver on promises for full disclosure of its atomic activities. "There are two main points they (the Iranians) have to resolve, as the report makes clear. These are research into sophisticated P2 centrifuges that can make bomb-grade uranium and what is the source of highly enriched uranium contamination which IAEA inspectors have found", a Western diplomat said. The resolution "deeply regrets that Iran has not fully implemented" promises to halt all activities related to enriching uranium, including "taking steps to produce" uranium hexafluoride, an enrichment fuel, and "continuing to produce centrifuge components." The resolution also urges Iran to reverse decisions to work on the nuclear fuel cycle by starting up uranium conversion and the building of a heavy water research reactor. But diplomats stressed that a showdown with Iran over it alleged nuclear weapons program would not happen in June. "We don't think we're at that point in the process but we're nearing the point where Iran will have to fish and cut bait," one diplomat said. Another diplomat said the EU-3 resolution was "a response to a report on a stage of the investigation." "Perhaps (at a board meeting) in September, we'll say that there is no more sense in stressing cooperation," the diplomat said. The resolution said "that Iran's posponement until mid-April" of a visit by IAEA inspectors "resulted in a delay" that made it all but impossible to resolve the Iran question at the June meeting, according to parts of the text read to AFP by diplomats. Washington accused Iran last week of continuing to hide clandestine nuclear activities, after the IAEA report said agency inspectors had found more traces in Iran of highly enriched uranium that could be bomb-grade. This cast serious doubt on Iran's claim that the contamination came from imported equipment rather than uranium it had introduced or tried to make. Iran insisted Sunday it had given a complete explanation of the contamination and urged the IAEA to focus its search on a "third country," apparently a reference to Pakistan. The IAEA also reported that Iran, which says its nuclear program is for peaceful, civilian purposes, has admitted to importing parts for sophisticated P-2 centrifuges for enriching uranium, going back on claims that it had manufactured the parts domestically. Highly-enriched uranium is made by centrifuges and can be fuel for nuclear reactors or the explosive in an atom bomb. All rights reserved. Copyright 2003 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse. Quick Links
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