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Iran defiant as cracks show in top powers' united front
By Deborah Cole
AFP
BERLIN
Petroleumworld.com 03 31 06Iran refused Thursday to comply with a UN Security Council demand to freeze uranium enrichment, defying a warning from major world powers which fear Tehran secretly wants an atomic bomb.
Foreign ministers of the UN Security Council's five permanent members plus Germany warned at talks in Berlin that Iran would find itself isolated if it pursued the standoff over its nuclear program.
It followed a non-binding statement approved unanimously by the world body late Wednesday giving Iran 30 days to abandon uranium enrichment activities.But the Islamic republic swiftly hit back.
"Iran's decision on enrichment, particularly research and development, is irreversible," its ambassador to the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Aliasghar Soltanieh, told AFP.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, speaking in Geneva, described the UN declaration as an "angry precedent" and a "bad move".
In Berlin, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the UN declaration was "a strong sign to Iran that negotiation not confrontation should be their course."
"It is now up to Iran to make a choice ... between isolation brought about by its own actions or a return to the negotiating table," added German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the meeting's host.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Iran had "miscalculated" the top powers' resolve.
"They thought the international community would be divided on this issue but, truthfully, it has become more and more united," he said.
But cracks appeared between the major powers here over how to act if Iran does not comply.
The UN statement does not say what consequences might follow if Tehran does not halt uranium enrichment, and Russia and China insisted economic sanctions or military action did not belong on the table.
"Russia does not believe that sanctions would serve the purpose of settling the various issues," Lavrov said.
Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo said use of force would unleash chaos. "The Chinese side feels there has already been enough turmoil in the Middle East and we do not want to see more turmoil introduced into the region," he said.
The UN talks had been marred by differences between the United States and its Western allies on the one hand and Russia and China on the other over how to prevent Tehran from making enriched uranium, which can be nuclear reactor fuel or material for an atom bomb.
The final declaration is a watered-down version of a Franco-British draft, in what was seen as a bid to placate Russia and China, which have opposed any hint of punitive measures against Iran, an ally and key trading partner.
It expresses clear concern that Iran is trying to acquire nuclear weapons secretly, demands that it comply with the wishes of the IAEA governing board and calls for an IAEA report within 30 days.
A senior US State Department official said the participants in Berlin all agreed on the need to keep Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons and expressed "acute concern" over recent Iranian actions.
"A number" of the ministers, including Rice, argued for consideration of sanctions at some point in the process, said the official who asked not to be named.
"I am not saying there is unanimity about this. There was not an agreement among all the parties," the official said. "But what was interesting was that (the) issue was joined for the first time at a P-5 meeting."
Washington and European powers believe Iran has ambitions of building a nuclear bomb, which they argue would destabilize the entire region.
Tehran vehemently denies the charge and says its nuclear program is purely peaceful.
It is unclear how the crisis will unfold if Iran refuses to buckle before the 30-day deadline is up.
"We are thinking about positive steps as well as negative steps, in conjunction with Russia, with China and with all other partners, depending on Iran's response," French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said.
Mottaki, speaking to the UN Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, said Iran would formally offer to set up a "regional consortium" to enrich fuel for its nuclear program, implying that it would be set up in Iran.
AFP 03 30 06 1650 GMT
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