VIENNA, 24 November 2004 — The United States and Iran were headed for a diplomatic showdown at the UN nuclear watchdog, with Washington demanding Tehran be threatened with tough action if it resumes atomic work it could use for bombs, diplomats say.
France, Britain and Germany, who spearheaded an EU offer of incentives if Iran halted its uranium enrichment program, circulated a draft resolution that diplomats at the United Nations said was unacceptable to both Washington and Tehran.
The Americans see it as too weak and want to include an “automatic trigger” which makes it clear that resuming any activities related to enrichment — a process of purifying uranium to fuel power plants or make weapons — would spark a referral to the UN Security Council and possibly sanctions.
Diplomats said that inclusion of such a clause in a resolution submitted to Thursday’s meeting of the UN agency would be unacceptable to Tehran and would ruin the Iran-EU deal.
“The Europeans will not allow this,” said a Western diplomat close to the backroom talks on the text. “There is an agreement (the EU has) with Iran that must be kept.”
The Iranians accuse the Europeans of slipping into the text an indirect trigger mechanism that could give Washington a chance to force the Iranian case out of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and into the hands of the Security Council in New York.
“Iran made strong representations about some parts of the agreement,” said British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw after meeting his Iranian counterpart Kamal Kharrazi on the sidelines of a conference in Egypt on Iraq.
The text says that it is “essential” that Iran keep all parts of its enrichment program suspended if Iran’s case is to be resolved “within the framework of the agency”.
While not a direct threat of a Security Council referral, this wording hints that it could be considered, which makes it troublesome for the Iranians, diplomats said.
“We have 48 hours of hard work to do,” a senior British official said about the negotiations taking place in Vienna and between the capitals of the major players on the IAEA’s 35-member board of governors.
Meanwhile, diplomats said that recent comments by top US officials indicated Washington might be exploring a potential shift in strategy regarding the Iranian nuclear program, which it believes is a front for developing bombs.
“I think there may be some movement in the US toward a softer approach,” a diplomat from the European Union said. “This change would not happen immediately, but there are hints that it is coming.”
The likely change would be an attempt to play the “bad cop” role alongside the EU’s “good cop” role as the Europeans pressure Tehran to abandon uranium enrichment permanently.
On Monday, Iran said it has kept a promise it made to the European Union last week by freezing its entire uranium enrichment program and the head of the UN nuclear watchdog, Mohamed El-Baradei, gave a cautious confirmation.
US President George W. Bush reacted to the announcement with mild skepticism. “Let’s say, I hope it’s true,” he said.
European diplomats also said they noticed that Bush acknowledged the possibility the EU initiative might work.
