Iran to miss UN nuke deadline
2006-04-28 09:01
Vienna - UN nuclear chief Mohamed ElBaradei is expected to report on Friday that Iran has failed to meet a UN deadline to stop enriching uranium, opening the door to possible sanctions against the Islamic republic.
The UN Security Council set Tehran a non-binding, 30-day deadline - running out on Friday - to comply with demands to halt enrichment, which makes fuel for civilian nuclear reactors but which can also be the explosive core of atom bombs.
But Iran has already rejected suspending enrichment, with hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowing on Thursday his country "will not bow to injustice and pressure."
"Thanks to God, we are a nuclear state," the firebrand leader said in a speech in the west of Iran.
Demand to co-operate with inspectors
This leaves little room for ElBaradei to do anything other than state the obvious in a report the head of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency is to file on Friday to mark the expiry of the deadline, diplomats said.
ElBaradei will also be reporting on whether Iran has met Security Council demands for Iran to co-operate with IAEA inspectors, who have not been able to conclude after over three years of investigation whether the Iranian programme is peaceful, as Tehran claims.
On this topic also little progress is believed to have taken place.
"It is not going to be a good report. That is quite clear. What is there positive to report?" said a senior European diplomat, who requested anonymity.
New phase of diplomacy
The report is thus almost certain to open the door to a new phase of diplomacy over an Iranian nuclear programme, which the United States charges hides the development of atomic weapons.
Washington wants the Security Council to adopt a "Chapter 7" resolution which would legally oblige Iran to meet the IAEA's calls.
This could lead, if Iran still refuses to comply, to punishing economic sanctions and even military action against Iran, although Tehran's allies and major trading partners Russia and China oppose such a move.
UN 'has to act'
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday said the Security Council "has to act" in response to Iran's defiance.
But speaking on the sidelines of a NATO meeting in Sofia, Rice played down talk of military action, saying: "We are committed to a diplomatic course."
ElBaradei's report will be released on Friday afternoon "both to member states of the IAEA board of governors and to the UN Security Council" in New York, IAEA spokesperson Melissa Fleming said.
- AFP