Efforts to put Iran before UN gather pace

By Roula Khalaf and Neil Buckley 
January 16, 2006
The Financial Times
Original Source: http://news.ft.com/cms/s/4f1e053a-86d2-11da-8521-0000779e2340.html

Diplomatic efforts to report Iran’s nuclear dispute to the United Nations Security Council gathered momentum on Monday as leading European governments said they would call for an extraordinary meeting of the UN’s nuclear watchdog in two weeks’ time.
After a London meeting of senior foreign ministry officials from the US, UK, France, Germany, Russia and China, European diplomats appeared confident that Moscow would not block a referral to the UN when the governing board of the International Atomic Energy Agency meets on February 2-3.
China’s position towards a referral, however, remained unclear.
According to the UK Foreign Office, all the participants at Monday’s meeting showed “serious concern over Iranian moves to restart uranium enrichment activities”.
They agreed on the need for Tehran to “return to full suspension”.
Iran’s decision to restart nuclear fuel research – which it had agreed to suspend under a 2004 agreement with the UK, France and Germany – sparked US and European calls for Tehran to be referred to the council. Tehran would face a more authoritative appeal for a resumption of the suspension before the Security Council, and could eventually suffer punitive measures.
The resumption of Iran’s nuclear activities has frustrated even its traditional allies such as Russia.
Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, on Monday warned against “abrupt, erroneous steps” in the international community’s handling of the crisis over Iran’s nuclear programme, but said Russia, the US and Europe held “close positions” on the issue.
In his first public comments on the crisis, Mr Putin backed statements from his foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, that Russia did not exclude the possibility of referring Iran to the Security Council.
However, speaking after his first talks with Angela Merkel, Germany’s new chancellor, Mr Putin signalled further diplomacy might be needed. He said Tehran had not definitively rejected Moscow’s proposal to set up a Russian-Iranian joint venture, on Russian territory, to provide fuel for Iran’s nuclear programme.
The London meeting aimed to win backing for a resolution at the IAEA that would refer Iran to the UN Security Council. Support from Russia and China, two permanent council members, is crucial to prevent deadlock when Iran’s case is taken up in New York.
China has resisted involving the Security Council in the Iran dispute and yesterday continued to urge caution. But Javier Solana, EU foreign policy chief, said he was confident China and Russia would back the EU in sending the issue to the Security Council.
Iran, the fourth-largest exporter of crude oil, insists its nuclear facilities are for the peaceful production of energy but western governments suspect Tehran’s intention is to build nuclear weapons.