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| By: Associated Press |
| Published: November 22, 2006 |
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Thirty-five nations effectively agreed Wednesday to deny Iran's request for technical help in building a plutonium-producing reactor -- at least for now -- but left room for Tehran to renew its request, diplomats said.
Two diplomats said a committee of the International Atomic Energy Agency would forward a summary of its three days of deliberations later in the day on 832 requests for technical aid from member countries to Thursday's board meeting. The summary would note that "no decision was taken" on Tehran's call for aid for its Arak reactor. That full meeting was then likely to approve the committee note, in effect, denying IAEA aid -- at least for the time being.
The two diplomats -- from countries on opposing sides of the issue -- had different interpretations of the decision, reflecting the depth of the dispute. They both demanded anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the issue with the media.
A European diplomat said the tentative agreement effectively meant that Iran's request was turned down. Another diplomat, from a developing nation, said it meant that the issue remained on the table and could be revisited at a future meeting of the IAEA technical aid committee.
"It certainly is not denied," he said.
While the argument focused on technicalities, it reflected the charged atmosphere of the meeting. Technical aid requests are normally approved without discussion -- but since the first committee meeting on Monday, suspicions that Iran might be seeking to make nuclear weapons led to diplomatic tussling on what to do about the request on Arak, which will produce enough plutonium for two bombs a year, once completed within the next decade.
Past IAEA resolutions have urged Iran to stop building the Arak reactor, and even traditional allies of Iran can live with denying Tehran aid for the project. While Iran says it needs the reactor to produce radioactive isotopes for medical purposes, the United States and its allies fear its latent weapons-making capacity.
Still, developing countries -- the key recipients of IAEA technical help -- are worried that denial of aid for any project would set a precedent that would hurt their future chances of getting agency support.
Arak is one of seven projects submitted by Iran, although initial lists seen by the AP had eight requests. Most, if not all, of the 35 nations had no trouble with approving Iran's request for help with the six other, far less contentious projects, said the diplomats.
The United States was a chief supporter of that approach. "There was a certain pragmatism that we weren't going to win on the other ones," a U.S. official told The Associated Press when asked why Washington did not initially push for a possible ban on all Iran aid requests.
Some diplomats accredited to the meeting suggested a possible parallel U.S. decision to tread lightly while Washington considers seeking direct dialogue with Tehran on reducing Iraq violence. The U.S. official, who also demanded anonymity because he was not authorized to comment on the issue to the media, said: "I would not discount that as a factor."
Rebuffing Iran's Arak request would not affect its construction and would also have no effect on the country's other potential avenue to weapons production -- uranium enrichment.
Still, it would maintain at least symbolic pressure while the U.N. Security Council is deadlocked over how to sanction Iran for ignoring demands to stop enriching uranium.
Of the other six projects submitted by Iran, one asks for help in developing nuclear capabilities for medical use. Another seeks legal aid for the Russian-built Bushehr reactor, which even the Americans have accepted as not posing a threat of nuclear proliferation. The others request assistance in administrative or safety aspects of nuclear power. |
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