IAEA to Consider Action on Iran

Over the objections of Russia and other countries, the European Union pushed the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency Friday to approve a measure that would compel the Security Council to examine Iran’s controversial nuclear program and consider punitive action.

The measure would require the International Atomic Energy Agency to report Iran to the Security Council for its failure to comply with international nuclear treaties. It demands a complete halt of those activities.

In a modest retreat from an earlier version, the resolution leaves open the timing of the Security Council referral.

Britain, France and Germany, backed by the United States, formally introduced the resolution at a rare evening meeting of the agency’s board of governors and insisted it weigh the measure this weekend. The board is to meet today.

Iran, a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, concealed its nuclear program for 18 years and has refused to answer key questions about some of its activities. But it says the program is aimed at generating electricity, and denies that it is seeking to manufacture nuclear weapons.

The legal grounds for the Security Council referral is that Iran is in “non-compliance” with the nonproliferation treaty and has a “history of concealment of ... nuclear activities.”

The decision to table the resolution despite deep disagreements among the 35 countries on the nuclear agency’s board capped a week of frantic and often acrimonious debate over how to deal with Iran’s nuclear program.

“The atmosphere was terrible,” said a diplomat who attended Friday’s meeting. “There were very emotional appeals to wait one week.”

Russia, China and the Non-Aligned Movement, a bloc of developing countries, oppose referring Iran to the Security Council, which has the power to censure, impose restrictions on diplomats and enact sanctions.

The Russians say referral to the council could provoke Iran to halt its cooperation with U.N. inspectors and restart nuclear activity at its partially constructed uranium enrichment plant at Natanz.

Iran had suspended all activity at the plant during negotiations with the European Union on a deal that would have offered economic and technological concessions in exchange for a permanent moratorium on nuclear activities. Although Iran restarted some of its nuclear activities when it rejected the EU deal in August, it has not resumed enrichment.

Iranian diplomats have repeatedly said that their country will stop its voluntary compliance with the IAEA and restart its uranium enrichment facility.

The disagreements among the IAEA board members made it unlikely that the toughly worded resolution would be adopted by consensus; and the EU and the United States probably will call for a vote.

Although the EU and its allies have a clear majority, they had hoped to muster broad support for the move. The agency’s board has almost always approved such resolutions by consensus.

The key player is Russia, because as a permanent member of the Security Council, it has veto power. And if it votes against the IAEA board resolution, it is unlikely to approve any punitive measures against Iran at the Security Council.

EU and U.S. diplomats appear to be hoping that the Russians will abstain -- a more neutral move that would leave Iran with far less protection from Security Council censure.

“You can’t say the Russians are against this because they haven’t voted yet,” said a senior diplomat with the European Union. “In these kinds of negotiations, it’s hard to assess what people will do when confronted with an actual vote.”

Times staff writer Tyler Marshall in Washington contributed to this report.