REGION: US faces tough resistance over Iran IAEA resolution

* Non-aligned members of IAEA reject resolution critical of Tehran
* IAEA governors and NAM hold negotiations to revise draft

VIENNA: The United States and key European nations were deadlocked with Iran’s allies at a key UN atomic agency meeting on how harshly to censure Tehran for failing to fully expose its nuclear activities.

Non-Aligned and Western diplomats were struggling Friday to break a deadlock at the UN nuclear agency over a US-backed resolution which would condemn Iran for hiding atomic activities that could be weapons-related.

Washington and its allies faced tough resistance as non-aligned members of the UN atomic watchdog rejected a resolution that sharply criticises Iran’s nuclear secrecy and keeps the door open for sanctions. In backroom meetings at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Canadian, Australian and European diplomats on the IAEA’s Board of Governors negotiated with diplomats from the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) to revise a draft IAEA resolution.

The United States, France, Britain and Germany agreed this week on an Australian-Canadian draft text that “deplores” Tehran’s withholding of sensitive information from the IAEA and highlights a military link to Tehran’s nuclear programme.

Iran’s ambassador to the UN in Vienna, Pirooz Hosseini, told Reuters the draft was unacceptable and “consultations are going on to... reach an agreed language.” Iran is not on the board but is involved in the talks as a key NAM member. NAM states have 13 out of 35 seats on the IAEA board and proposed a series of amendments to tone down the draft resolution. For example, NAM wants the word “deplores” changed to “strongly regrets”, but NAM diplomats complained the US-led camp were not being very accommodating.

“They’ve given us peanuts,” a non-aligned diplomat told Reuters. “They don’t want to budge.” He said the NAM block - the largest on the board - would not back the resolution if its sponsors did include more of its proposed amendments in the text. The IAEA adopts resolutions by consensus, so the board meeting could run into the weekend. NAM diplomats are not the only ones with problems about the text. Several board members told Reuters the politically powerful Russians also had problems with the text

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) appeared split in debate between the US-led bloc which wants to hint at possible action against Iran, and Non-Aligned states led by Malaysia which want to include more praise for Tehran’s efforts at cooperation. IAEA spokesmen said the agency was readying itself for the unusual step of a late-night extension of the board of governors meeting that began Monday, or even to continue the meeting today (Saturday).

It was the latest wrinkle in a long process. Since February 2003, the IAEA has been verifying whether Iran’s nuclear programme is peaceful, or devoted to secretly developing atomic weapons, as the United States has charged. “I don’t think it’s any single issue but there is wording that to you or I would not be significant, but to them it’s a big deal,” a Western diplomat said about the diplomats’ debate over the text.

A diplomat from one of the 13 Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) states on the IAEA board said his group, which met with Iran’s IAEA representative Wednesday, wanted to “soften the tone” to alienating the Islamic Republic. A harsh rebuke from the UN nuclear watchdog could spur Tehran into pulling back from ongoing cooperation efforts, he warned. The NAM grouping wants to eliminate two clauses in the resolution about which Iran is particularly sensitive.

They are the mention of Iran using military-related sites for its uranium-enrichment centrifuge programme, and a call for Iran to suspend all activities related to enriching uranium, according to a copy of the NAM amendments made available to AFP. —Agencies

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