Reply #95: IAEA delays vote to send Iran to Security Council [View All]

[EuroObserver]

VIENNA (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog deferred until Saturday a vote to report Iran to the U.N. Security Council over fears it is seeking atomic bombs, as the European Union lobbied developing nations to back the measure.

Diplomats said a clear majority on the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation board favoured notifying the council on Iran, but EU diplomats needed more time to persuade as many developing states as possible to vote yes rather than abstain.
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"We are trying as best we can to secure as broad as possible consensus on the board for reporting Iran," said a diplomat with the one of the sponsoring powers, Britain, France and Germany. "The resolution is being revised," a senior diplomat close to the IAEA said earlier. Asked about the haggling, a Western diplomat said: "The threat (to restrict inspections) is on everyone's minds but we consider it blackmail and if we give in to that, there's no end to it." He said the negotiations with developing states focussed on clarifying a clause in the resolution so that it could not be construed as ending IAEA oversight of Iran's case.

U.S. and EU leaders, aware that Russia, China and developing states on the IAEA board want to avoid a showdown with Iran, the world's No. 4 oil exporter, said on Thursday that reporting Tehran would not end diplomacy or trigger early U.N. sanctions.

Iran's deputy nuclear negotiator warned that involving the Security Council would also kill talks on a Russian offer to defuse the crisis by enriching Iranian uranium to ensure the Islamic Republic cannot divert it for bombs.

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