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EU Hopes to Delay Decision on Iran Referral
September 04, 2004
The Financial Times
Daniel Dombey in Valkenburg and Roula Khalaf in London


European governments are seeking to delay any decision over referring Iran's nuclear programme to the United Nations Security Council until November. The move may upset the US, which is concerned that the programme, which Tehran says is intended to develop nuclear energy, is instead aimed at producing weapons of mass destruction.

The US has been lobbying for a referral to the Security Council at a September 13 board meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN's nuclear watchdog. But UK, French and German officials believe they need more information before taking decision.

The European governments may ask the IAEA for comprehensive assessment of Iran's nuclear programme in November, a document that could be used as the basis for a referral to the Security Council. They are also reluctant to end efforts to engage Iran through greater co-operation before the IAEA board meets again in November. A referral to the Security Council, the first step towards possible sanctions, would be a more confrontational approach.

Last year, the three countries reached a deal to put the Iranian programme under greater international supervision. However, there has been a series of setbacks this year, including Iran's decision to resume assembling equipment to enrich uranium, and elections that many western governments said were neither free nor fair.

At a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in the Netherlands yesterday, officials from the three countries briefed their counterparts on the issue.

"Iran should not miscalculate," said a spokesman for Joschka Fischer, German foreign minister. "The clear message that we are sending is that they have to keep their commitments." But some European officials believe it will be difficult to agree on any new measures before the US elections in November.

The IAEA's latest progress report said Iran was planning this August and September to convert as much as 37 tonnes of yellowcake into uranium hexafluoride - the material spun in centrifuges to make enriched uranium, which can then be used to make nuclear weapons or as fuel in reactors.

But the report, which detailed Iran's co-operation over the past two months, did not provide conclusions about Iran's intentions, and offered some positive assessments of co-operation.

Since UN nuclear inspectors began their investigations last year, Iran has provided just enough explanations for its experiments to balance every interim report and win sufficient support on the IAEA's governing board.
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