Russia Won't Block U.N. Iran Hearing

By Carla Anne Robbins
January 12, 2006
The Wall Street Journal
Original Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB113703705582844572.html
WASHINGTON – Russia has privately assured the U.S. that it won't block efforts to have Iran referred to the United Nations Security Council after Tehran said it would resume enriching uranium.
Such a commitment almost guarantees that Tehran will be brought before the world body in coming weeks, but it leaves open the question of what, if any consequence, Iran will face.
In a telephone conversation with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice this week, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow wouldn't stand in the way of a joint European-U.S. effort to bring Iran's case to the Security Council, U.S. and other officials said.
Today, the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany -- the so-called EU-3 -- are expected to call for an emergency board meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency to seek a swift referral to the United Nations.
The new showdown began Tuesday when Tehran began removing the IAEA seals at several key nuclear facilities, including a once-secret enrichment plant at Natanz. Enriched uranium can either be used to fuel nuclear power plants, or as U.S. and European officials increasingly fear, to make nuclear weapons.
The IAEA has repeatedly criticized Iran for concealing and lying about its nuclear activities. Iran insists that its program is peaceful, and until now Russia, which has strong economic ties to Iran, has resisted Western efforts to isolate Tehran.
The Western officials said they expected Moscow to abstain when the issue is brought before the IAEA's 35-member board. They calculate that with Russia no longer blocking action, China likely will abstain so as not to isolate itself, and other less powerful nations will vote yes if only to curry favor with the U.S. and Europe.
The officials said yesterday that Moscow appears to be deeply angered by Iran's decision to resume enrichment. The Russians have spent months trying to broker a compromise on the issue, and as recently as this weekend, a top Russian official visiting Tehran explicitly warned Iran not to take that step.
U.S. and European officials will meet in London next week to begin discussion about what actions they might seek once Iran's case is brought to the U.N. Officials said they hope to quickly bring the Russians into that conversation.
Officials have signaled that no one is considering military action, and they have said that a referral to the Security Council likely wouldn't trigger immediate economic or other sanctions.
The officials said that they can't predict how Iran will now react. One possibility is that Tehran could decide to expel the IAEA inspectors -- a move that would escalate the confrontation.
Despite the mounting international criticism, Iran remained defiant yesterday. In a nationally broadcast speech, hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared that the Iranian nation is not frightened by the powers and their noise, the Associated Press reported. Former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, the West's preferred candidate in last year's presidential election, was even harsher, denouncing the West's colonial policy...If they cause any disturbance, they will ultimately regret it, he warned.