UN Council formally approves statement on Iran

UNITED NATIONS - The UN Security Council has formally approved a statement calling on Iran to suspend uranium enrichment efforts that the West suspects are part of a secret nuclear weapons programme.

The meeting of the 15-nation council took place shortly after the five permanent council members, the United States, Britain, Russia, China and France agreed on the statement, after three weeks of arduous negotiations.

The statement, which needed the approval of all 15 council members, was read at a public meeting by Argentine Ambassador Cesar Mayoral, this month's council president.

The text made significant concessions to Russia and China, which were anxious to avoid language that might later be used to press for sanctions against Iran, should it remain defiant.

After the five powers reached agreement, the United States hailed the statement as a breakthrough in efforts to block Iran's drive to become a nuclear power.

"We are very close today to taking the first major step in this council to deal with Iran's nearly 20-year old clandestine nuclear weapons programme," US Ambassador John Bolton said.

"It sends an unmistakable message to Iran that its efforts to deny the obvious fact of what it is doing are not going to be sufficient," Bolton told reporters.

But China's UN ambassador, Wang Guangya, said the statement sent a strong message for the council to support the authority of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN watchdog in Vienna.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov finalised the agreement after last-minute telephone calls, diplomats said.

Foreign ministers of the five powers and Germany meet in Berlin on Thursday to map out strategy on Iran and council members raced to finish the statement before then.

Iran restarted its nuclear enrichment programme earlier this year but insists its aim is to develop nuclear energy rather than weapons.

Western ambassadors said the five nations reached agreement only after a provision stating that the council was responsible for international peace and security was removed at Russia's insistence. Russia and China both feared such a statement could later be used as a legal basis for sanctions or a military strike against Iran.

Bolton criticised Russia and China for deleting that paragraph, saying it was a direct quotation from the UN Charter.

"We accept that it they don't want to quote from the UN Charter, because the message is clear nonetheless that Iran's nuclear weapons programme is unacceptable," Bolton said

He said that while the statement "may not win any awards in tennis heaven, the ball is back in Iran's court, and we'll be here in 30 days to see what they will do."

The statement calls on Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the IAEA, to report back on Iran's compliance within 30 days instead of the 14 days in the original text.

"This is an unambiguous signal to Tehran that the Security Council of the United Nations, charged with the maintenance of international peace and security under the Charter, is now dealing with this issue," Bolton said.

The West has refused to rule out sanctions if Iran does not comply and US officials have said that military action was an option, although Britain has disavowed it.

The IAEA reported the Iranian issue to the council on March 8 after Tehran resumed nuclear fuel work. This prompted European negotiators - Germany, France and Britain - to break off 2-1/2 years of negotiations.

- REUTER