UN Council powers said close to deal on Iran

WORLD / Top News

 UN Council powers said close to deal on Iran
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-03-29 15:41

The five U.N. Security Council powers are close to a deal on Iran's
suspect nuclear program and hope for approval of a new draft statement
when the full council meets on Wednesday, diplomats said.

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton arrives for a meeting of the U.N.
Security Council, in New York, March 23, 2006. [Reuters]

Britain and France, backed by the United States, distributed a revised
text late on Tuesday to all 15 Security Council members that makes
concessions to Russia and China. But it still calls on Iran to suspend
uranium enrichment efforts, which the West believes are a cover for bomb
making.

"We have reached agreement on the bulk of the text, so there was movement
on all sides. And now we need to see whether we can cross this last
bridge, but we're very close," U.S. Ambassador John Bolton told reporters
on Tuesday.

"We have been incredibly flexible. Incredibly flexible. I probably have
never been more flexible," Bolton said of the compromises.

The Security Council consults on Wednesday afternoon after the five
powers meet again. The hope is that the statement will be adopted then or
at least be ready for approval early on Thursday when foreign ministers
of the five council powers and Germany meet in Berlin to discuss strategy
toward Iran.

But not all issues have been settled and a presidential statement,
compared to a resolution, needs the approval of all 15 nations with seats
on the council.

Negotiations have stretched over three weeks on the statement, which is
nonbinding and threatens no punitive measures. But Russia, backed by
China, fear Security Council involvement will lay the groundwork for
tougher action, such as sanctions, which they have vowed to oppose.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, the Vienna-based U.N. nuclear
watchdog, referred the Iranian dossier to the council on March 8 after
Tehran resumed nuclear fuel work. This

prompted European negotiators -- Germany, France and Britain -- to break
off 2-1/2 years of talks. Oil-rich Iran insists its programs are to
develop nuclear energy only.

One change in the text is a watering down of a phrase calling Iran's
actions a possible "threat to international peace and security," a term
that Beijing and Moscow said established an escalation of council
involvement.

The new version notes the council's "primary responsibility for the
maintenance of international peace and security" as defined in the U.N.
Charter.

But this language has still not been approved by Russia, diplomats said,
speaking on condition of anonymity because of secret negotiations, and is
considered the main obstacle.

The new text also deletes specific charges and demands on Iran's nuclear
program. Instead it refers to resolutions of the IAEA board that mention
them.

Another modification is a request that the IAEA director general, Mohamed
ElBaradei, report back on Iran's compliance within 30 days instead of the
14 days in the original text.

In Washington on Tuesday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the
United States had "a number of tools" to isolate Iran and "if necessary,
within the U.N. Security Council."

She did not elaborate but the implication was some form of punitive
action, such as sanctions.

In London, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw in London sought to
assure Russia and China that Security Council action would not lead to
military strikes.

"As to the possibility of this leading to another Iraq, it won't. I have
made clear often enough that I don't regard military action as
appropriate or indeed conceivable," Straw said. "Nor do I believe there
would be any international consensus on that and I think Russia and China
are well reassured on that."

Most Commented/Read Stories in 48 Hours

Today's Top News 

� China tariff bill sidelined, new one unveiled

� 'Rise in human cases a dangerous sign'

� Olmert claims victory in Israeli election

� Chinese may win Nobel Prize

Top World News 

� Olmert wins in Israeli election

� Palestinian parliament OKs Hamas cabinet

� UN Council powers said close to deal on Iran

20071125 http://www.hellomandarin.net