Iran’s defiance over its nuclear program seems certain to worsen a UN Security Council split over how to keep Tehran from building the bomb.
After the UN nuclear watchdog confirmed Friday that Iran has ignored the council’s demand to stop uranium enrichment, the US signaled clearly that it may act on its own to step up pressure on Tehran. On a divided Security Council, veto-holding Russia and China oppose tougher measures that the three other permanent members — the US, Britain and France — are ready to consider.
“We certainly are hoping for unanimity among the five permanent members,” said the US ambassador to the UN, John Bolton. “But unanimity or not, we are prepared to move forward.” As a next step, Washington is calling for a resolution that invokes Chapter 7, the UN Charter’s section that spells out possible punitive measures — including military force — against countries deemed threats to “international peace and security.” China said Friday it opposes a Chapter 7 resolution because it could lead to the use of force. “We still want to promote diplomacy and we should solve the issue in a diplomatic way,” Chinese Ambassador Wang Guangya told reporters. In a bid to avoid the impression of a US-driven agenda, Britain and France are leading the drafting of the resolution.
Bush has not ruled out the use of force, but he stressed Friday that the US remains on the diplomatic track. He refused to set a deadline for US patience. “Wait until we even get one resolution first, before you ask me about the second resolution,” he told reporters at the White House. Asked about the risk of a military confrontation, he said, “There are significant differences between Iran and Iraq.” Bush said diplomacy “is just beginning.” That seems a fair assessment: It took Security Council members three weeks just to agree on a non-binding statement on Iran.
That statement set Friday’s deadline for the International Atomic Energy Agency to report on Iran’s compliance with the council’s demand to stop uranium enrichment.
The IAEA report found Iran in defiance and confirmed that Iranian scientists have succeeded in enriching uranium at the Natanz plant, a breakthrough the Iranian government announced on April 11. Foreign ministers from the five permanent Security Council members and Germany will meet in New York May 9 for a new round of talks to weigh their options in the Iranian crisis, a US State Department official said Friday. Bolton said Washington is willing this time around to give the Iranian government a “very short period of time” to heed repeated demands to suspend its nuclear activities.
But the unanimity the US is hoping for from the veto-wielding permanent members is not there, diplomats told Deutsche Presse- Agentur. They said the US is seeking to build support in the Security Council in hopes of winning a large majority for tougher action against Iran, even if the resolution were to fail because of a Russian or Chinese veto.
Even before the IAEA report’s publication in Vienna, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said his country did not care about UN resolutions and would pursue its nuclear program. Iran says its uranium enrichment is geared only toward producing electricity from nuclear power.
