Haider Rizvi

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 10 2005 (IPS) — The George W. Bush administration may like to see Iran face sanctions for its nuclear aspirations, but the political mood at the United Nations suggests that such punishment is not what the world community is ready for.

"We don’t think it will be helpful to bring the issue to the Security Council," Chinese ambassador to the U.N. Wang Guangya told reporters here a day after Iran broke the seals on uranium enrichment equipment at its nuclear plant in Isfahan.

Guangya, whose country holds a permanent veto-wielding seat on the 15-member Security Council, said he supported ongoing efforts by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the European Union (EU) troika (Britain, France and Germany) to find a solution based on dialogue with Iran.

Recently, the three EU nations had warned Iran that they would seek Security Council-sponsored sanctions if Tehran did not reverse its decision to open the uranium reprocessing facilities after an eight-month hiatus. Despite this threat, Iran removed the U.N. seals at a time when the Vienna-based IAEA Board of Governors was still discussing what to do next.

Enriched material can be used for peaceful purposes like generating electricity, as well as for making nuclear bombs. Iran has consistently denied that it wants to make nuclear weapons and insists that its nuclear activities are in accord with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). However, the United States and some European nations continue to harbour suspicions about Tehran’s intentions.

In an attempt to resolve the issue through dialogue, Iran had suspended its uranium enrichment programme and allowed tough IAEA inspections in November 2003. It has since been involved in negotiations with Britain, Germany and France.

The IAEA says Iran removed all its seals at the uranium plant after the agency installed its inspection system, which includes surveillance cameras and other devices, but that does not imply an "endorsement of the resumption of uranium enrichment and conversion."

Like the Chinese ambassador, both U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and IAEA director Mohamed ElBaradei urged restraint and warned against attempts to escalate tensions.

"This is a very complex issue," Annan told reporters in New York Monday. "It is essential that we break this current impasse. I believe the best way to break this impasse is to continue the discussions (of) the EU-3 with the Iranians at the table."

Asked under what circumstances he saw it coming before the Security Council, the U.N. chief said: "The issue is before the IAEA, and I suspect they will take a decision or pronounce themselves either today or tomorrow. I think we need to jump that bridge first."

Annan said he was in touch with all the parties concerned, including newly-elected Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

ElBaradei, who has been discussing the issue with the leaders of several nations, observed that any attempt to escalate the situation would be a "lose-lose situation."

"I understand that there is a sense of frustration in Iran," he told reporters in Vienna. "But as I said, negotiation of long-term arrangements is a complex long-term process. It has an implication for peace and security. I hope that Iran will continue to negotiate rather than take unilateral action, go back to the negotiating table with a counter-proposal and let’s try to see this way forward."

Ahmadinejad, a former Tehran University professor who holds a doctoral degree in engineering, has said he is ready for more talks on Iran’s nuclear programme and will come up with new proposals.

"I have new initiatives and proposals which I will present after my government takes office," he told Annan over the telephone, according to ISNA, an Iranian media outlet.

Pres. Bush welcomed Ahmadinejad’s statement, but reiterated that he was "very deeply suspicious" of Tehran’s nuclear intentions. In Texas, he told journalists that the EU-3 were negotiating "on behalf of the free world."

However, Bush said if the situation was not resolved through negotiations, Washington would work with the Europeans "in terms of what consequences there may be, and certainly the U.N. is a potential consequence."

Observers say securing a majority on the 35-nation board of the IAEA to refer Iran to the Security Council would not be easy for the U.S. and the EU, since a majority of members on the Board belong to the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), who appear to have no desire to endorse such a move.

"This may cause serious international problems," said retired Lt. Gen. Gennady Yevstafyev, senior counsel at the Centre for Political Research in Moscow, in an interview with Novsti, a Russian news agency.

"It is hard to imagine that all the members of the Security Council will elaborate a common approach to this problem. Consequently, they will fail to adopt any resolution on the matter," he predicted.

"No one will consent to it, given the current political conditions," he said. "Besides, nobody wants Iran to withdraw from the NPT. If it does, it will completely discredit the treaty."