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Europe to hold off on sanctions if Iran referred to UN
 VIENNA - The EU will hold off on calling for sanctions if Iran is brought before the UN Security Council for its nuclear fuel work but instead give Teheran one more chance to suspend the sensitive activity that could lead to the construction of atom bombs, diplomats said on Wednesday.
| Which means nothing gets done and nothing goes forward for about, oh, umpteen years. Meanwhile the EU'nuchs can growl and act fierce over nuclear proliferation whilst not actually doing anything about it ... |
A Western diplomat told AFP that if Iran fails to halt the work by Saturday, when IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei will file a report on Iranian compliance to the board, Britain will press âfor a reporting of Iranâs case to the Security Council even by a vote, if consensus is not there.â
The IAEA traditionally adopts measures unanimously, avoiding doing anything votes that can be divisive and dilute the moral force of its decisions, diplomats said.
Britain would âthen seek a statement by the president of the Security Council urging Iran to fulfill the requirements set out in IAEA board resolutionsâ urging it to fully suspend nuclear fuel work, the Western diplomat said.
Non-proliferation analyst Gary Samore, a senior fellow on Londonâs International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), said the Council will take forever move gradually, if at all, towards actual sanctions, unless Iran provokes it by actually producing enriched uranium, which in highly refined form can serve as the raw material for atom bombs. âIn the beginning the Council is likely not to do much more than issue a strongly worded declaration an exhortatory resolutionâ urging Iran to comply, he said, adding that escalating measures short of full sanctions could include banning new investment in Iranâs oil and gas industry.
Posted by: Steve White 2005-09-01 |
