Russia is unlikely to support a draft resolution that refers Iran to the UN Security Council over its nuclear programme unless it is softened, a European diplomat said yesterday.
The so-called EU3 - Britain, France and Germany - began circulating the draft resolution, which opens the door to possible UN sanctions against Iran, to key members of the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the past week.
The IAEA's 35-nation board of governors was expected to vote on the resolution at an emergency meeting scheduled for February 2nd.
But the EU3 diplomat said the Russians objected to language in the draft that suggests Iran is a threat to world peace and paves the way for a so-called Chapter Seven resolution at the Security Council.
"In order to get the Russians on board we need to get a new draft of the resolution," the diplomat said.
Chapter Seven resolutions are binding under international law and enforceable with sanctions and in some circumstances military action. Non Chapter Seven resolutions are widely viewed as rhetorical.
The diplomat said the Americans and British were determined to get a Chapter Seven resolution at the Security Council and that it was unclear whether the Europeans would be willing to soften the language of the draft.
The EU3, which along with the United States suspects Iran is pursuing a nuclear bomb, broke off talks with the Islamic Republic earlier this month after it resumed nuclear fuel research. Tehran says its nuclear programme is for civilian needs only.
Russia and China, permanent members of the Security Council like the United States, France and Britain, have trade interests in Iran and are urging restraint and more diplomacy.
The EU3 has rejected a request by Iran to resume talks, saying it must first halt its atomic fuel research.
Separately, German magazine Der Spiegel reported on Saturday that Iran had sent a message to German Foreign Minister Mr Frank-Walter Steinmeier during his trip to Cairo last week offering to revive talks on a Russian proposal to set up a uranium enrichment joint venture.
According to the report, Iran requested that China also be included in the venture, which foresees uranium being enriched for Tehran in Russia.
German Defence Minister Mr Franz Josef Jung reiterated in an interview with the weekly Bild am Sonntag that Germany preferred a diplomatic answer to the Iran crisis.
"Together with the United States, we need to do everything to get a diplomatic solution to the Iran question," he said. "To do this we should also bring in Russia and China."