The 10 elected U.N. Security Council members Tuesday began studying "elements" of an Iran statement, or resolution, the permanent five members have been discussing since last week.

Britain and France, drafters of the one page "non-paper" obtained by United Press International, gave it to the diplomats "in confidence." The other three veto-wielding permanent members of the council are China, Russia and the United States. Both Beijing and Moscow are against pressuring Tehran.

If the supporters of the text cannot get China and Russia to go along with it to form a consensus in the council, then, according to strategists, they will put it in resolution form, which will force Beijing and Moscow to either veto or abstain to express any objections.

The proposal endorses the U.N.'s Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, its Director General Mohamed ElBaradei, and his Feb. 27 report referring the Iran issue to the council, saying it could not be determined for certain Iran's nuclear program was strictly for peaceful use.

One draft element noted the report "lists a number of outstanding issues and concerns, including topics which could have a military nuclear dimension, resulting in absence of confidence."

Another "notes with regret Iran's decision to resume enrichment-related activities and to suspend cooperation with the IAEA."

One of the draft elements called on Tehran to take the confidence-building steps needed to establish "the exclusively peaceful purpose of its nuclear program and resolve outstanding questions by fully complying with the requirements set out by the IAEA Board."

Among the steps recommended were suspension of all enrichment and reprocessing activities, construction of a research reactor moderated by heavy water, ratification and full implementation of the "Additional Protocol" to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, implementation of transparency measures and "engag(ing) in active cooperation" as requested by ElBaradei.

Diplomats said the draft should be formally considered by the council Friday. This is not soon enough for U.S. Ambassador John Bolton who, seeing any more talk as costly, telegraphed the "informal, informal meeting as we call it."

Said Washington's envoy, "We do want to move as quickly as we can. We think it's important to try and maintain the unity of the Perm-5, which I think we've all reaffirmed to each other, the importance of keeping Iran from getting nuclear weapons. And so that unity is important. But we also feel a sense of urgency."

The reason, he then explained to reporters, was a story in Tuesday's New York Times.

He read a quotation from Hassan Rowhani, the former Iranian negotiator, who said: "While we were talking with the Europeans in Tehran, we were installing equipment in parts of the facility in Isfahan, but we still had a long way to go to complete the project.

"In fact, by creating a calm environment, we were able to complete the work on Isfahan. We are in fact much more prepared to go to the U.N. Security Council (as a result of that)," Bolton read.

"I mean this is an admission," added the ambassador. "The New York Times reporter says a 'remarkable admission... suggested in his speech that Iran had used the negotiations with the Europeans to dupe them. He boasted that while negotiations were continuing, Iran managed to master a key stage in the nuclear fuel process -- the conversion of uranium yellowcake at its Isfahan plant.

"So these negotiations that the Iranians like to have are not cost-free," Bolton said. "They were able to buy time -- by their own admission -- I couldn't make this stuff up... That's why our negotiation process will not be indefinite."

Bolton said every day that goes by "the Iranians continue to engage in enrichment activities. The IAEA has reported they've converted enough yellowcake to make about 85 tons of uranium hexafluoride, which the physicists will tell you can be converted roughly, once it's enriched to highly enriched uranium, to ten, roughly ten or so nuclear weapons.

"So everyday that goes by is a day that permits the Iranians to get closer to a nuclear weapons capability," he said. "Now, we want to proceed prudently and carefully, but it's one reason our concern was to bring this matter to the Security Council, which we've been trying to do for quite some time. And now that we're here, to try and move expeditiously."

Related Links
-