the US Secretary of State asked for the case to be referred to the UN’s Security Council. So far Iran has not done enough to prove it is not intending to develop nuclear weapons, he said. September 8, 2004 - Following negotiations between Iran and the European Union on issues related to Tehran’s nuclear projects, the US Secretary of State asked for the case to be referred to the UN’s Security Council. So far Iran has not done enough to prove it is not intending to develop nuclear weapons, he said and added, the board of governors of the IAEA should refer Iran’s activity to the Security Council when the board meets next week in Vienna.
European diplomats told some news agencies on Tuesday that the chief Iranian negotiator, Hassan Rohani expressed willingness to stop uranium enrichment plans. Rohani was in Holland on Monday, holding talks with EU officials. However, observers believe that there is no time left for the IAEA inspectors to verify if Iran has stopped the controversial activities, before the board of the nuclear watchdog agency meets next week.
Also on Tuesday the Israelis Prime Minster, Ariel Sharon expressed a similar view in an interview with the Jerusalem Post. The global effort to halt Iran’s nuclear advancement has not been enough Sharon said. There has not been enough pressure on Iran in this respect and that the Security Council should include Iran’s nuclear activities in its agenda.
In another interview with the Jerusalem Post on Wednesday, however, Mr. Sharon has gone further and said inspection by the IAEA and threats by the US to seek international sanctions are not enough. He said: “I don’t see that the activity against them is enough to stop them from obtaining nuclear weapons.” Once again he was quoted as saying “Israel will take its own measures to defend itself,” though he didn’t elaborate on what these measures would be.
According to Washington Post, a series of secret meetings between Iran and European diplomats in Vienna led to a promise from Tehran yesterday to suspend some nuclear activities in exchange for trade with EU3 countries.
But Iran’s offer does not include work on a key area of uranium enrichment. This is exactly the point that concerns Colin Powel when he said, while European governments hoped to find a solution with Iran “unfortunately I don’t think the response from Iran has been very positive and constructive.”
US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher reinforced State Department’s view: “As we have seen they are trying to explain away their behaviour, but the behaviour has been documented multiple times and cannot be overcome by new promises since past promises were not kept.”
US undersecretary of state John R. Bolton the authority on non-proliferation issues, is meeting his G-8 counterparts in Geneva on Thursday and Friday, and Iran is expected to be on the top of their agenda.
