IAEA to hold emergency Iran meeting

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at a press conference. Picture / Reuters

VIENNA - The governing board of the International Atomic Energy Agency will hold an emergency meeting on Iran's nuclear work on February 2 at the request of European Union powers.

France, Britain, Germany and the United States are expected to push at the session to have Tehran referred to the UN Security Council after it resumed research that could be used for generating electricity or make atomic bombs.

The West suspects Iran is seeking a nuclear arsenal. Tehran says its goal is to better power an energy-hungry economy.

The "EU3" group yesterday began gauging the views of states on the IAEA's 35-member board on a resolution asking that the IAEA, the UN nuclear watchdog, report Iran to the Security Council.

That drew a dismissive response from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. "It is clear this is politically motivated," he told reporters. "We are asking them to step down from their ivory towers and act with a little logic."

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said nuclear weapons were against Islamic teachings, as well as Iranian interests, but he vowed to pursue atomic energy.

The United States and European Union said they saw no point in holding further talks with Iran on its nuclear programmes and it was time for the Security Council to tackle the issue.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said there was "not much to talk about" and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana agreed.

Iran wrote to the IAEA on Tuesday proposing more talks with the Europeans, who called off dialogue last week after Tehran removed UN seals on uranium enrichment equipment.

- REUTERS