EU: The EU turned up the pressure on Iran yesterday with a draft resolution reporting Tehran's nuclear programme to the UN Security Council, but diplomats said Russia was strongly opposed.
Iran's chief nuclear negotiator reacted angrily, warning that Tehran might pull out of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and resume uranium enrichment, which can produce fuel for energy or bombs, if reported.
"If you use the language of force Iran will have no choice but to . . . leave the framework of the NPT . . . and to resume enrichment," Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said.
Although Iran resumed uranium-processing at Isfahan last month, prompting the EU action, Tehran has yet to restart the enrichment procedure, the most sensitive part of the nuclear fuel cycle.
Mr Larijani also said the world's fourth-biggest oil-producer might link countries' access to its oil to whether they supported Iran.
Tehran says that its programme is for generating electricity and denies seeking nuclear bombs.
The US and European Union suspect Iran's nuclear fuel programme is a front for developing weapons. Diplomats on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board, holding its quarterly meeting this week, said the EU draft had been distributed to the 35 IAEA board members and could be officially submitted to the board as early as today.
However, given the opposition of countries such as China, Brazil and above all Russia, it was unclear whether the IAEA board would vote on it this week.
"They [the EU] might just table the resolution, but the board would take no action," another diplomat said, adding that the EU had 20 or 21 firm yes votes out of the 35 board members, far short of the overwhelming majority the Europeans would like.
Diplomats said the Russians and Chinese were concerned that the standoff over Iran's nuclear programme would escalate out of control if it went to the security council.
Responding to Iran's repeated suggestion that a security council report was a prelude to military action, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said that that was nonsense. - (Reuters)