Allies Maneuver To Avert Iran A-Bomb

By Benny Avni
November 15, 2007
The New York Sun 
Source: http://www.nysun.com/pf.php?id=66467&v=1467515911 http://www.nysun.com/pf.php?id=66467&v=1467515911


UNITED NATIONS — In an indication of the battle lines forming as the U.N. atomic agency is set for today's release of its latest report on Iran, Western diplomats are saying the report is likely to leave many questions unanswered, while President Ahmadinejad is predicting it will prove the clerical regime's peaceful intentions.

The much-anticipated periodic report of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency was preceded yesterday by a 10-page document prepared by America, Britain, and France, which was circulated to the agency's 35 executive board members, detailing all the outstanding information Iran must answer on its uranium enrichment program. The release of the document was immediately seen as a Western pre-emptive strike to counter what many expect to be a soft IAEA treatment of Iran.

Even after the release of today's report, I think it is going to take a long time to clarify, first of all, the history of this 20-year concealed program. And it is going to take even longer for the international community to re-establish confidence that Iran's intentions are purely peaceful, the British U.N. ambassador, John Sawers, told The New York Sun yesterday, stressing, nevertheless, that he trusts the IAEA and its director general, Mohamed ElBaradei.

Mr. Ahmadinejad predicted, however, that the nuclear agency will exonerate his country. The IAEA has raised the most accurate and complicated questions, Iran has conducted the best cooperation, and the IAEA report will prove Iran's nuclear program is peaceful, Mr. Ahmadinejad said, according to the Iranian Student News Agency.

The IAEA report is likely to include Iran's latest disclosure this week of a document that the agency's board of governors has sought for two years. The document, on casting uranium metal into spheres for nuclear warheads, had been seen by the IAEA's inspectors in the past, but the agency had not been allowed to take a copy out of Iran.

It was almost two years ago that the board of governors asked for a copy of this uranium metal document, and I can also say that it was four years ago that the board of governors demanded complete cooperation from Iran, the American delegate in Vienna, Gregory Schulte, told reporters there yesterday. In today's report on Iran, he said, America will look for full disclosure and full suspension of their proliferation sensitive activities.

Many diplomats have predicted that the report by the IAEA director, Mr. ElBaradei, will be inconclusive at best. It will be factually correct, but positively spun in Iran's favor, a Western diplomat told reporters recently in a briefing conducted on condition of anonymity.

Next week, political directors of the foreign ministries of the five permanent Security Council members and Germany will meet in London to discuss Mr. ElBaradei's report, as well as a report by the European Union's foreign affairs envoy, Javier Solana, who had conducted diplomatic efforts with Tehran.

America, Britain, and France hope to use Iran's refusal to adhere to a Security Council resolution demanding a suspension of its uranium enrichment activity to promote new punitive measures. Security Council negotiations, however, are expected to start after Thanksgiving at the earliest, according to diplomats here, and China, which carries a veto power at the council, has already signaled that it would oppose any new sanctions.

In lieu of Security Council-imposed sanctions, France is promoting the imposition of European Union sanctions on Iran, while in America, states have imposed unilateral divestment drives. Yesterday, the New York State comptroller, Thomas P. DiNapoli, announced that the state's common retirement fund will assess its investments in companies that do business in Iran, with the possibility of divesting from them.

One or two countries have always confronted Iran and unified their powers against us in every opportunity they get, Mr. Ahmadinejad said, according to ISNA. But Iran has always managed to avert their futile attempts, so I hope these countries learn from the 28 past years and take the path of friendship instead of confrontation.

In Tehran, meanwhile, there were signs that the clerical regime is set to purge political critics. A man who had served as an Iranian nuclear negotiator, Hossein Mousavian, was accused yesterday of illegally transferring information on Iran's nuclear program abroad. Mr. Mousavian has given information to foreigners, including the British embassy, in contradiction to the country's interests and security, said the intelligence minister, Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, according to ISNA.

Mr. Sawers, who has often dealt with Iran as London's foreign ministry political director, dismissed the charges. As Iran's principal nuclear negotiator with the Europeans, Mr. Mousavian was a loyal representative, he said. I had dealings with him, many others had dealing with him, Mr. Sawers said. He was a very effective negotiator on behalf of his government.