Iran Warns Against UN Referral

Roula Khalaf and Gareth Smyth in Tehran, The Financial Times:

Iran’s top nuclear official on Sunday warned Tehran would resume efforts to enrich uranium on an industrial scale if its case was reported to the UN Security Council, further raising the stakes in the crisis over its nuclear programme.

Tehran earlier this month moved to resume nuclear research, including some small-scale enrichment. But Ali Larijani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, which handles the nuclear issue, said in an interview with the Financial Times that a referral to the United Nations would force Tehran to broaden significantly the scale of such work. READ MORE

Interview transcript Click here

“If the case goes to the Security Council, we’re obliged . . . to lift all voluntary measures,” he said, specifying that this included industrial-scale uranium enrichment.

The European Union and US have been pushing to get Iran’s case reported to the UN Security Council since Tehran announced it would restart its nuclear research two weeks ago. The US and European governments consider the move a breach of a 2004 agreement with Iran.

A referral could come as soon as next week at an extraordinary session of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the governing board of the UN’s nuclear watchdog. Such a move could lead eventually to sanctions.

The US and EU argue that involving the Security Council would strengthen the IAEA’s hand. But Mr Larijani’s warning appears designed to show that greater diplomatic pressure would instead undermine both the IAEA’s work and attempts to curtail Iran’s programme.

Iran has always intended to develop industrial-scale uranium enrichment, which can be used for nuclear reactors or atomic weapons, but stopped all preparatory work during two-year talks with Europeans.

Nuclear experts say assembling enough centrifuges and preparing for industrial production could still take years.

Mr Larijani spoke at the start of a week of intense diplomacy. European officials will visit capitals represented on the 35-member IAEA governing board to lobby for an EU-backed resolution on referral.

Meanwhile, Mr Larijani is likely to be in Moscow to discuss a Russian proposal to find a compromise, an effort to forestall the Europeans or at least temper the tone of any IAEA resolution.

Moscow has proposed a joint venture to enrich uranium on Russian soil for use in Iranian reactors. In his interview Mr Larijani said the proposal “had to become complete. Gaps have to be filled.

“We have to see what potential this idea has for being productive,” he said.

“There are two issues to be considered: one is Iran’s right to enrichment, and the other is non-diversion [of nuclear material to weapons].

“Any solution should be consistent with these two considerations. The scale, extent and timing can all be discussed.”