VIENNA: The United States and Europe want the UN Security Council to give Iran a two-week deadline to halt suspect nuclear work, according to a draft text for Council action obtained on Friday. The draft says that the Security Council should “call upon Iran without delay: to re-establish full, sustained and verifiable suspension of all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities” and says that the UN nuclear watchdog chief should “report to the Council within 14 days on the implementation by Iran of the actions it has requested”.
The draft, which was written by European states on the Security Council, marks the beginning of the process by Council members to agree on a presidential statement and which could extend past next week. Entitled ‘Draft elements for Security Council action on the Iranian nuclear programme’, the text begins: “Security Council action is necessary to reinforce the authority of the IAEA.” A Western diplomat said that there was to be a meeting in New York Friday of the five permanent members of the Security Council and that the United States, Britain and France expected to receive reactions to their draft text from the Russians and Chinese. |