The five U.N. Security Council powers are close to a deal on Iran's suspect
nuclear program and hope for approval of a new draft statement when the full
council meets on Wednesday, diplomats said.
U.S. Ambassador to the
U.N. John Bolton arrives for a meeting of the U.N. Security Council, in
New York, March 23, 2006. [Reuters] |
Britain and France, backed by the United States, distributed a revised text
late on Tuesday to all 15 Security Council members that makes concessions to
Russia and China. But it still calls on Iran to suspend uranium enrichment
efforts, which the West believes are a cover for bomb making.
"We have reached agreement on the bulk of the text, so there was movement on
all sides. And now we need to see whether we can cross this last bridge, but
we're very close," U.S. Ambassador John Bolton told reporters on Tuesday.
"We have been incredibly flexible. Incredibly flexible. I probably have never
been more flexible," Bolton said of the compromises.
The Security Council consults on Wednesday afternoon after the five powers
meet again. The hope is that the statement will be adopted then or at least be
ready for approval early on Thursday when foreign ministers of the five council
powers and Germany meet in Berlin to discuss strategy toward Iran.
But not all issues have been settled and a presidential statement, compared
to a resolution, needs the approval of all 15 nations with seats on the council.
Negotiations have stretched over three weeks on the statement, which is
nonbinding and threatens no punitive measures. But Russia, backed by China, fear
Security Council involvement will lay the groundwork for tougher action, such as
sanctions, which they have vowed to oppose.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, the Vienna-based U.N. nuclear
watchdog, referred the Iranian dossier to the council on March 8 after Tehran
resumed nuclear fuel work. This
prompted European negotiators -- Germany, France and Britain -- to break off
2-1/2 years of talks. Oil-rich Iran insists its programs are to develop nuclear
energy only.
One change in the text is a watering down of a phrase calling Iran's actions
a possible "threat to international peace and security," a term that Beijing and
Moscow said established an escalation of council involvement.
The new version notes the council's "primary responsibility for the
maintenance of international peace and security" as defined in the U.N. Charter.
But this language has still not been approved by Russia, diplomats said,
speaking on condition of anonymity because of secret negotiations, and is
considered the main obstacle.
The new text also deletes specific charges and demands on Iran's nuclear
program. Instead it refers to resolutions of the IAEA board that mention them.
Another modification is a request that the IAEA director general, Mohamed
ElBaradei, report back on Iran's compliance within 30 days instead of the 14
days in the original text.
In Washington on Tuesday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United
States had "a number of tools" to isolate Iran and "if necessary, within the
U.N. Security Council."
She did not elaborate but the implication was some form of punitive action,
such as sanctions.
In London, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw in London sought to assure
Russia and China that Security Council action would not lead to military
strikes.
"As to the possibility of this leading to another Iraq, it won't. I have made
clear often enough that I don't regard military action as appropriate or indeed
conceivable," Straw said. "Nor do I believe there would be any international
consensus on that and I think Russia and China are well reassured on that."