On Friday, Knight Ridder reported that IAEA director Mohammed ElBaradei has told the U.N. Security Council Iran is defying its demand to suspend the enrichment of uranium and that Iran has failed fully to cooperate with inspectors unable "to verify the scope and nature of Iran's enrichment program."[1] -- Iran, for its part, "told the IAEA it would continue its limited cooperation on nuclear safeguards and that it was willing to resolve the outstanding issues" and would "provide a timetable within three weeks," but would "cooperate only within the framework of the IAEA," not the U.N. Security Council. -- John Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., said that the U.S. will push for a Security Council resolution that could be enforced by economic sanctions or military action. -- Despite the dramatic nature of the news, "the report contained no big surprises about the content or pace of Iran's program," experts said. -- Thus a new act of the long-running drama of the West's American-orchestrated confrontation with Iran is about to open, in which the world is likely to see "a clash between Iran and the U.N. Security Council, and among members of the council on how to end the crisis." -- In Australia, saying that "[t]he possibility of military action and indeed, still the possibility of even a nuclear strike is very real," Friends of the Earth Australia spokesman John Hallam wrote a letter to the Australian foreign minister asking that Australia work toward ruling out any military response to the crisis: "If military action against Iran is not ruled out, then it will have an entirely perverse effect. It will guarantee positively that we get the very thing that we say we don't want, namely a bitterly hostile, nuclear-armed Iran." -- Reuters reported that U.S. President George Bush, while saying that "The diplomatic process was just beginning," told reporters at the White House Iran's "intransigence is unacceptable."[3] -- Oil futures prices edged up $1 in response to the news, to about $72 a barrel....
1.
Politics & Government
IRAN REFUSES TO COOPERATE WITH U.N. INSPECTORS, REPORT SAYS
By Renee Schoof
Knight Ridder
April 28, 2006
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/14455357.htm
WASHINGTON -- Iran has defied a U.N. demand to suspend its uranium-enrichment program and has failed to fully cooperate with international inspectors, the U.N. nuclear-watchdog agency reported Friday.
The report set the stage for a clash between Iran and the U.N. Security Council, and among members of the council on how to end the crisis. The Bush administration said it wanted to work through the council but it's raised the possibility of working outside it to impose punitive measures against Iran.
Diplomats from the United States, China, Russia, Britain, and France -- the veto-wielding Security Council members -- and Germany planned to meet Tuesday in Paris to try to work out a common strategy.
Iran said it was working with the International Atomic Energy Agency, but also indicated that it might quit cooperating if the Security Council tries to rein it in.
The United States will push for a Security Council resolution that could be enforced by economic sanctions or military action, said John Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N.
The United States would back "targeted sanctions," such as restricting the travel of certain Iranian officials or trade in equipment that could be used for civilian or military purposes, Bolton said. Some measures could be taken outside the Security Council, he said.
China's U.N. ambassador, Wang Guangya, called for diplomacy and said talk of sanctions and military measures was counterproductive.
Russia also has objected to sanctions. Russia needed time to form its position, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak said Friday.
The 15-nation Security Council called on Iran in a nonbinding statement March 28 to suspend its uranium-enrichment work and answer outstanding questions about its nuclear program.
Instead, Iran announced it had enriched uranium to a level sufficient for running a nuclear power station.
The United States and some of its European allies accuse Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of its energy program. Iran denies it.
President Bush said Friday, "The diplomatic process was just beginning."
The IAEA report "should remind the Iranians that the world is united and concerned about their desire to have not only a nuclear weapon but the capacity to make a nuclear weapon, or the knowledge to make a nuclear weapon, all of which we're working hard to convince them not to try to achieve," Bush said.
Iran told the IAEA it would continue its limited cooperation on nuclear safeguards and that it was willing to resolve the outstanding issues. It promised to provide a timetable within three weeks. But it said it would cooperate only within the framework of the IAEA.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday repeated his threat to stop cooperating if the Security Council applies pressure. Ahmadinejad noted that Iran has the right to develop enriched uranium for civilian nuclear reactors under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the agreement designed to stop the spread of nuclear weapons.
"If they would resort to playing tricks against us and taking advantage of these regulations that should naturally guarantee our rights, they had better know that the Iranian nation would alter its methods of dealing with these groups and agencies thoroughly," he said according to the government-run Iran Republic News Agency.
Iran, however, has admitted concealing its nuclear program for 18 years and the IAEA found it to be in violation of the agency's safeguards agreement.
IAEA Inspector General Mohamed ElBaradei said in his report that it was impossible for IAEA inspectors to answer all questions after three years of inspections.
The report said IAEA tests April 18 "tend to confirm" Iran's claim that it had used 164 centrifuges to produce low-enriched uranium. The same process, with more centrifuges or a longer duration, produces highly enriched uranium for weapons. Iran ended a more than two-year moratorium on enrichment in January.
Iran plans to install the first 3,000 of a 50,000-centrifuge underground, industrial-scale plant at Natanz beginning late this year. The 3,000 centrifuges would be capable of producing enough highly enriched uranium for a warhead if operated for a year.
According to the report, among the missing information about Iran's nuclear ambitions are documents that raise questions about its purchases of weapons-related materials from a smuggling ring led by Pakistan's A.Q. Khan.
One document the IAEA seeks from Iran is about the fabrication of uranium metal, which is used to make warheads.
"Additional transparency measures, including access to documentation, dual use equipment and relevant individuals, are . . . still needed for the agency to be able to verify the scope and nature of Iran's enrichment program, the purpose and use of the dual use equipment and materials purchased by the PHRC (Physics Research Center), and the alleged studies which could have a military nuclear dimension," the report said.
Because there are gaps in what the IAEA knows, it's "unable to make progress in its efforts to provide assurance about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran," it said.
In February, Iran stopped allowing the IAEA to enter some military sites and to visit nuclear sites on short notice.
Joseph Cirincione, a nonproliferation expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said the report contained no big surprises about the content or pace of Iran's program.
2.
DOWNER URGED TO OPPOSE STRIKE ON IRAN
ABC News Online (Australia)
April 29, 2006
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200604/s1626628.htm
A group of peace and environment campaigners has banded together with a number of federal MPs to urge the Federal Government against supporting military action against Iran.
Iran is under increasing pressure to halt its nuclear work after a report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) found the nation has ignored a U.N. Security Council deadline to suspend uranium enrichment.
The IAEA says Iran is instead speeding up its nuclear program.
U.S. President George Bush has promised to search for a diplomatic solution to the impasse.
Friends of the Earth Australia spokesman John Hallam says Foreign Minister Alexander Downer should go one step further and rule out the use of military force.
"If military action against Iran is not ruled out, then it will have an entirely perverse effect," he said.
"It will guarantee positively that we get the very thing that we say we don't want, namely a bitterly hostile, nuclear-armed Iran."
In a letter to Mr. Downer, the group says the Federal Government needs to do everything in its power to discourage the U.S. from any reckless course of action.
"The possibility of military action and indeed, still the possibility of even a nuclear strike is very real," Mr. Hallam said.
"That's not to say that it's going to happen and I hope and pray and trust that it won't but it's on the table and it shouldn't be on the table.
"It needs to be taken off the table."
SANCTIONS POSSIBLE
The Security Council will now decide what action to take against Iran at a meeting early next month.
However, the major powers are divided over whether tough sanctions should be imposed on the Iran regime.
The American ambassador to the U.N., John Bolton, says he will now push for Iran to face mandatory U.N. demands to stop its nuclear work.
"The point -- and there's no question about this in our mind -- is to enhance international pressure on Iran, to show just how isolated they are, to show just how unacceptable is their pursuit of nuclear weapons," he said.
Britain and France back the call for limited sanctions if Iran refuses to shelve enrichment quickly.
The Security Council's other two veto-holding permanent members, Russia and China, want to protect lucrative stakes in Iran's energy sector and have so far opposed sanctions.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has again defended Iran's nuclear program and says the country will not give a damn about any U.N. resolutions.
3.
News
World
BUSH SAYS DIPLOMACY WITH IRAN HAS JUST STARTED
By Tabassum Zakaria and Carol Giacomo
Reuters
April 29, 2006
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200604/s1626628.htm
WASHINGTON -- U.S. President George W. Bush said on Friday that diplomacy aimed at halting Iran's nuclear program has only just begun and a top aide said the world must prepare to impose targeted sanctions on Tehran.
While Bush reaffirmed his commitment to a peaceful resolution of the nuclear dispute, he told reporters at the White House Iran's "intransigence is unacceptable."
He spoke after a report by the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency said Tehran had ignored a U.N. Security Council call to suspend all nuclear fuel enrichment and had accelerated the program.
Although Bush in the past has not ruled out military options, he stressed that "diplomatic options are just beginning" and said Washington would continue to consult with its allies on the issue.
In an interview with Reuters, Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said the IAEA report proved Iran is an "international outlaw" and countries should prepare to impose targeted sanctions, either by U.N. Security Council action or, if necessary, outside that process.
"Countries that have economic relations that give some leverage over Iran, including exports of dual use technology and arms sales ought to shut them down. . . . We hope there will be a major international reassessment of doing business with Iran" as major powers decide the way forward, he said.
The United States has maintained broad sanctions on Iran since the 1979 revolution but officials are considering additional steps, such a freeze of Iranian financial assets.
European nations have already been considering possible sanctions but Russia, which has the most significant leverage over Iran through nuclear cooperation and arms sales, has resisted punitive action.
TEHRAN REFUSES TO BACK DOWN
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, speaking before the IAEA report, said Tehran would not back down from its nuclear program. Iran insists the program is for producing energy but Western powers say it is a cover for developing weapons.
Burns, who will meet in Paris next Tuesday with counterparts from Russia, Britain, France, China, and Germany, said Iran must feel the consequences of its defiance of international demands. The Paris meeting is expected to develop a timetable for further action, he said.
One Western diplomatic source in Washington predicted a sanctions resolution would be put before the Security Council later in the year. "Meanwhile, the Iranians continue to consolidate their technical knowledge and we lose more valuable time. Everyone is concerned about this," said the diplomat.
Bush discussed Iran with German Chancellor Angela Merkel by telephone earlier on Friday, the White House said. Merkel is visiting Washington next week.
"It's very important for the Iranians to understand there is a common desire by a lot of nations in this world to convince them, peacefully convince them, that they ought to give up their weapons ambitions," Bush said.
At the United Nations, U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said it was clear from the IAEA report Iran had done nothing to comply with Security Council demands that it suspend its nuclear activities. Washington is prepared to seek council approval of a resolution making those demands mandatory under international law, he said.
(Additional reporting by Sue Pleming)