UN turns up heat on Iran
Non-proliferation efforts could backfire causing increased Iranian interference in Iraq.
Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced Monday that "more than 40 countries could
make nuclear weapons," reports the
Associated Press.
Although he did not name the countries with potential weapons programs, the elephant in the room of UN concerns about nuclear proliferation is Iran.
The US has previously stated that it wants the UN to impose sanctions against Iran. The US position is that Iran, as the holder of the world's second-biggest proven oil reserves after Saudi Arabia, does not need a nuclear alternative energy program and its nuclear-power plans are being used to
disguise a weapons program, reports the
New York Times.
Over the weekend, the IAEA's governing board unanimously passed a resolution that demanded for the first time that
Iran freeze all work on uranium enrichment, reported the
Associated Press. The IAEA "expressed alarm at Iranian plans to convert more than 40 tons of raw uranium into uranium hexafluoride - the gas that when spun in centrifuges turns into enriched uranium," rreports
AP.
Suggesting that Iran may have to answer to the UN Security Council if it defies the demands, the resolution said it will decide at its board meeting in November "whether or not further steps are appropriate" in ensuring Iran complies, reported
AP.
The delay was seen as an effort to buy time on the nuclear weapons proliferation crisis, (and wait until after presidential elections in the United States).
The IAEA also demanded that Iran "answer all questions about its nuclear activities," a position Iran has rejected already, reports the
Scotsman.
The IAEA sought the right to hold such inspections when it became evident that Iran's nuclear program was much more developed than had been thought. Iran agreed to unhindered inspections last year, but its parliament has yet to ratify the additional protocol to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty that authorizes them.
However, hard on the heels of the IAEA's findings, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami on Tuesday
vowed to continue the country's uranium-enrichment program, reports
Bloomberg. He said his country will suspend United Nations nuclear inspections if the US pushes for economic sanctions against Iran. Such sanctions could conceivably force European oil companies such Royal Dutch/Shell Group to stop working in Iran.
The
Scotsman quotes Mr. Khatami saying at a
military parade on Tuesday:
'We've made our choice. Yes to peaceful nuclear technology, no to atomic weapons. ...We will continue along our path even if it leads to an end to international supervision of our nuclear activities.'
Britain, France, and Germany have already criticized Iran's nuclear program as unacceptable, and were leaders in having the IAEA demand further inspections. But they are aware that a confrontation "could backfire and that
incentives as well as punishments need to be presented to Tehran" reports the
New York Times.
Threatening sanctions - a cutoff in oil purchases, for example - is not viewed as credible or likely to get much support.
The US cannot afford to dismiss European views, especially after the discord over Iraq, administration officals are quoted by the
Times as saying.
Last weekend, under European pressure, the United States agreed to defer its demand that the International Atomic Energy Agency immediately refer Iran's noncooperation on nuclear issues to the United Nations Security Council, where sanctions might be considered. Instead, Iran was given two more months to show that it was cooperating.
Forcing Iran to pull back on its nuclear development is fraught with risks, reports the
Washington Times, as Iran could play its Iraq card.
Just this Sunday, Iran's Assembly of Experts, the body of powerful Muslim clerics that chooses the country's supreme leader, opened its 12th session calling for an Islamic republic in Iraq, reports the
Washington Times.
In his opening speech, the assembly's speaker, Ayatollah Ali Meshkini, urged Iraqi leaders to unite to expel foreign troops in Iraq and establish a government based on the principles of Islam similar to the one in Iran, according to reports in the
Tehran Times
yesterday. The Iraqi leadership must 'expel the occupiers and establish an Islamic government,' the ayatollah said. But deeper entanglement in Iraq could backfire for Iran as well, says Michael O'Hanlon, an Iranian specialist at the Brookings Institution. The
Times quotes Mr. O'Hanlon:
'Iraqis do not want to be seen as pawns of Iran. If Iran pushes too much, that is likely to turn Iraqis off, even if they are [Shiites] and share some of the same goals.' It should be remembered, says O'Hanlon, that Iraqis are Arab, very nationalistic, but majority Shiite. There is a resentment that Iraq was the historical center of Shiite scholarship, but that Iranians, who are Persian, have usurped that position in Muslim intellectual circles. Hanlon says:
'We need to be vigilant, but there is a natural law here that pushes Iraq and Iran apart, the more Iran tries to meddle.'
Also...
•
French connection armed Saddam - Three part series (
The Washington Times)
•
Israel puts Iran in its sights (
BBC News)
•
Q&A: Iran's nuclear programme (
BBC)
•
South Korea cooperating well on nuke inspections - UN /A> (
Reuters)
•
Latest News and Announcements (
IAEA)
•
UN seeks unity on Iran (
BBC)
•
Iranian tales (
National Review)
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