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The Isfahan Uranium Conversion Facility, 410 kilometers, 255 miles south of the capital Tehran, Iran. (AP)
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| By Associated Press January 24, 2006 |
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Iran will immediately retaliate if referred to the U.N. Security Council next week by forging ahead with developing a full-scale uranium enrichment program, Tehran's senior envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency said Monday.
The comments by Ali Asghar Soltaniyeh reflected Iran's defiance in the face of growing international pressure on the Islamic republic to renounce plans for enrichment - which can be used in electricity production but is also a necessary step in making uranium-based nuclear weapons - in exchange for avoiding Security Council action.
Ending a 15-month commitment, Iran removed IAEA seals from equipment Jan. 10 and announced it would restart experiments, including what it described as small-scale enrichment - a move that led key European countries to call for an emergency IAEA board of governors session Feb. 2.
The Europeans also began drafting a basic text for a resolution calling for the Security Council to press Tehran to re-impose its total freeze on enrichment and "to extend full and prompt cooperation to the agency" in its investigation of suspect nuclear activities - though it stops short of asking the council to impose sanctions.
Soltaniyeh, in comments to The Associated Press, warned against referral, suggesting such a "hasty decision" would backfire.
Whether Iran's suspension of its full-scale enrichment program remains in effect "depends on the decision of Feb. 2," he said. Asked if that meant Iran would resume efforts to fully develop its nascent enrichment activities if the board votes for referral at that meeting, he said, "yes."
Letters from senior diplomats of the United States, France, Britain and Australia and a response from IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei made available to the AP showed the chief U.N. nuclear inspector resisting pressure by those countries - the main proponents of referral - to ratchet up the pressure on Iran.
While Iran insists its nuclear ambitions do not go beyond wanting to generate fuel, concerns are growing that its main focus is trying to make nuclear weapons - something more than three years of IAEA investigations have failed to prove or disprove.
In a letter dated Jan. 20, Gregory L. Schulte, the chief U.S. representative to the IAEA, asked ElBaradei to prepare a written report on the "status of IAEA efforts to investigate indications of an Iranian nuclear weapons program" and on other activities Washington says are a cover for such a program. Supporting letters from the other countries also asking for a special report were dated Monday, Jan. 23.
ElBaradei rejected the requests in his written reply also dated Monday, Jan. 23, saying "a detailed report" would only be available in March, the next scheduled meeting of the IAEA board. Instead, he offered an "update brief" for the Feb. 2 meeting, to be read by a deputy.
The exchange reflected differences between ElBaradei and the United States and its key allies over the handling of the Iran nuclear issue.
Diplomats close to the agency - who demanded anonymity for divulging confidential information - said the IAEA chief was unhappy about the push for a special board meeting and would have preferred to wait until the scheduled March session, when he hopes to end a more than three-year probe of Iran's nuclear dossier.
Iran has repeatedly said it is willing to offer guarantees that its nuclear program won't be used to manufacture weapons. But it has so far refused to give up what it calls its clear treaty rights to enrich uranium and produce nuclear fuel.
Israel considers Iran the largest threat to its existence, while Iran backs and finances anti-Israeli militants. On Sunday, Iran said an Israeli attack against Tehran's nuclear program would be a "fatal mistake."
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