Russian Nuclear Plan for Iran Unites UN Watchdog

Mark Heinrich and Louis Charbonneau, Reuters:

The U.N. nuclear watchdog's governors broadly agree it is better to explore a Russian compromise over Iran's nuclear activities than to report Tehran to the Security Council, Western board members said on Thursday. A draft statement incorporating this position was submitted by the European Union's three biggest powers -- France, Britain and Germany -- to the chairman of the International Atomic Energy Agency's board as it began a two-day meeting.

"There is a broad consensus not to allow Iran in the present circumstances conducting enrichment-related activities on its soil," said the draft of a statement, obtained by Reuters, to be read by the IAEA board chairman at the end of the meeting. READ MORE

The EU draft text makes no mention of previous threats to refer Tehran to the Security Council for possible sanctions, which the United States and EU had been pushing for months.

Diplomats said a decision by the EU and the United States not to push for referral at the meeting had averted a potential clash with Russia and China, which oppose any such move.

Rarely united previously, they and the Western powers, along with developing countries such as India and South Africa, now seem to agree Russia's proposal offers the best route forward.

Moscow has suggested letting Tehran conduct less-sensitive uranium processing in Iran and shifting the converted material to Russia, where a Russian-Iranian joint venture would handle the critical enrichment process. Enrichment can yield fuel for nuclear power stations or bomb-grade uranium fuel.

IRAN INSISTS ON ENRICHMENT

However, Iran has made clear it intends to pursue uranium enrichment on its own soil, and Tehran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, said this would be the main topic of any future discussions with the Europeans and Russians.

"The next talks will be about the enrichment programme and there must be a framework and a deadline for talks, because without such things, negotiations will be fruitless," he told Iran's semi-official Mehr news agency.

The EU text says the IAEA's 35-nation board had "unanimous hope...that the negotiation process could resume, taking into account, among different ideas, the Russian proposals".

Word from Iran on Wednesday that it expected to unfreeze dialogue with the EU has been seen by IAEA board members as a sign of flexibility from Tehran after months of tough talk.

For more than three years, the IAEA has been investigating Western allegations that Iran has been trying to develop atomic weapons in secret. Tehran denies wanting anything more than civilian nuclear energy but acknowledges hiding potentially weapons-related technology from U.N. inspectors for 18 years.

Diplomats said envoys of Russia, Britain, France, Germany and Iran tentatively planned to meet on December 6, four months after the "EU3" group cut off contact in protest at Iran ending a suspension in processing uranium for nuclear fuel.

The meeting, which diplomats say will take place in Vienna, Brussels, Geneva or Moscow, will focus on the Russian proposal.

"We must do what we can to explore the window of opportunity offered by Russia's proposal, give more time for diplomacy. The general feeling is that to go to a vote (against Iran) now would be premature," said a senior diplomat on the IAEA board.

The IAEA board of governors will not vote on Security Council referral but will issue a statement summarising concerns expressed by board members, diplomats on the board said.

The Japanese chairman of the board will decide on the final text. Western diplomats said the non-aligned developing nations on the board would demand that the EU draft text be softened.

Several Western board members said wide support for the draft text reflected growing world concern that Iran's nuclear capabilities must be curtailed.

(Additional reporting by Parinoosh Arami and Paul Hughes in Tehran and Paul Taylor in Brussels)