EU troika against sending Iran nuclear file to UN

RIA Novosti:

The European troika of Britain, Germany and France is against sending the Iranian "nuclear file" to the United Nations Security Council, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Wednesday after a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov. Straw, who had to cut short his Moscow visit to support Prime Minister Tony Blair's anti-terrorist bill in a crucial parliamentary vote on Wednesday evening, said the EU troika would not refer Iran to the Security Council, which has the power to impose sanctions on the Islamic republic if the country is found in breach of its international obligations.

Lavrov echoed the point, saying there were no disagreements between Russia and the European Union over the issue of Iran's "nuclear file." READ MORE

On September 24 this year, the International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors approved a resolution drawn up by the troika envisaging the referral of the Iranian nuclear file to the UN Security Council.

Voted in by 22 of the world nuclear watchdog's 35 member states, the resolution obligates Iran to restore a moratorium on uranium enrichment and to abandon its ambitions for a complete nuclear fuel cycle before the IAEA governing body's November session.

The United States continues to insist that the Iranian nuclear file be referred to the UN Security Council. Iran has consistently said it wants to develop nuclear power for peaceful purposes, but some countries, led by the U.S., doubt the veracity of such statements, particularly in the light of recent comments made by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that Israel should be "wiped off the map."

Russia, by contrast, has consistently been voiced its opposition to referring the dossier to the UN, maintaining that the issue should be resolved through diplomacy and within the IAEA regulatory framework.