West threatens Iran with UN action

This past week saw events heralding a new phase of confrontation between Western powers and Iran when France, Germany and Britain (referred to as the EU3) declared negotiations at a dead after Iran officially ended a two-year voluntary moratorium on enriching uranium at its Natanz site. The United States and France rejected Iran's request for more negotiations, with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice saying on Jan. 18 that "there's not much to talk about." The West says that Iran breached the Non-Proliferation Treaty by not divulging full details of its nuclear program and fears the Islamic nation wants to build a nuclear bomb. Iran insists its nuclear program is a wholly peaceful attempt to generate electricity. As the European countries pushed ahead with efforts to have Iran brought before the UN Security Council, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused them of trying to deprive Iran of "peaceful" technology. In a ringing defense of his government's move, Ahmadinejad said Tehran had not violated the treaty, which allows signatories to produce nuclear fuel. "The time of using language of bullying and coercion... is over," Ahmadinejad said at a news conference. "There is no evidence to prove Iran's diversion [toward nuclear weapons]." What's more, he said, Iran had no use for such weapons. "Our nation doesn't need nuclear weapons. You can use nuclear technology in several ways, and we want to do so peacefully," he said, claiming that such weaponry violated the tenets of Islam. Tehran said only diplomacy, not threats of Security Council referral, could defuse its standoff with the West. Iran asked for a ministerial-level meeting with the European Union, but its decision to resume some uranium enrichment-related activities "means that it is not possible for us to meet under satisfactory conditions to pursue these discussions," said French Foreign Ministry spokesman Denis Simonneau. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana also rejected any return to talks. Solana agreed with Rice that "there is not much point" in resuming talks if there is "nothing new on the table." The day before, Britain dismissed Iranian calls for a resumption of nuclear negotiations and said Tehran's renewed interest in a Russian proposal to settle the nuclear dispute was a delaying tactic. Tehran has shown interest in recent days in a Russian initiative to set up a joint venture on Russian territory to provide for all of Iran's future nuclear fuel needs. Russia says the proposal is still on the table and is hoping Tehran will accept it to defuse the crisis. Talks between Russian and Iranian officials on the initiative are scheduled for mid-February. The United States and the EU3 want the Board of Governors of the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), to convene an emergency meeting on Feb. 2 to refer Iran to the Security Council. The IAEA chief, Mohamed ElBaradei, had fixed a deadline of Mar. 6 for Iran to come clean on the full extent of its nuclear program. The countries have drawn up a draft IAEA resolution asking the Security Council to press Tehran "to extend full and prompt cooperation to the agency" in its investigation of suspect nuclear activities–though it stops short of asking the Council to impose sanctions. The US, Britain, France, Russia and China are the five permanent members of the Security Council and have the power to veto Council resolutions. Russia and China–as well as Egypt, which also sits on the 35-nation IAEA Board of Governors–are reluctant to support Iran's referral. Russia, which has a $1 billion contract to build Iran's nuclear reactor as well as lucrative arms deals with Tehran, has been hesitant to act against its trading partner. China, which is highly dependent on Iran for oil, has warned that referral to the Security Council would escalate the confrontation. "China believes that under the current situation, all relevant sides should remain restrained and stick to solving the Iranian nuclear issue through negotiations," the Foreign Ministry in Beijing said on Jan. 16. Iranian officials have threatened to block UN inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities if the case is referred to the Council. Rice said the vote on referral "ought to be as soon as possible." "We've got to finally demonstrate to Iran that it can't with impunity just cast aside the just demands of the international community," Rice said on Jan. 15. A few days previously, Rice had said: "It is very clear that everyone believes a very important threshold has been cleared." Rice said she was "gravely concerned" about Iran's actions, which she termed "dangerous defiance," adding that Iran's people "deserve better." "During the past 10 days we have tried to relay our message to all relevant parties, including the Europeans, about Iran's readiness to negotiate on the production of nuclear fuel," said Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki. Mottaki said he hoped European countries would avoid taking steps that could only worsen the current situation–an apparent reference to US and European talk of sanctions. Iranian officials have warned that UN sanctions would lead to major increases in world oil prices, which have skyrocketed in the last year and could rise significantly if there were another international crisis. Iran is the world's fourth-largest exporter of crude oil. Iran has a "cheap means" of achieving its nuclear "rights," Ahmadinejad said on Jan. 14, adding: "You [the West] need us more than we need you. All of you today need the Iranian nation. Why are you putting on airs? You don't have that might." Senators say military strike must be option Republican and Democratic senators said the next day that the United States may ultimately have to undertake a military strike to deter Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, but that should be the last resort. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) told CBS: "Everything else has to be exhausted, but to say under no circumstances would we exercise a military option would be crazy." Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) urged diplomacy, but said there were elements of Iran's nuclear program which, if attacked, "would dramatically delay its development." McCain called the nuclear standoff "the most grave situation that we have faced since the end of the Cold War, absent the whole 'war on terror.'" "We must go to the UN now for sanctions. If the Russians and the Chinese, for reasons that would be abominable, do not join us then we will have to go with the [states that are] willing," he said. Senate Intelligence Committee member Trent Lott (R-MS) said that despite a massive military commitment in Iraq, the United States has the capability to strike Iran, but it would be difficult and other options must be tried first. McCain said sanctions would be tough but that Iran poses a greater danger to the United States than Iraq at this point and must be contained. "If the price of oil has to go up, then that's a consequence we would have to suffer," McCain said. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said President Bush should do whatever he can to get support from Russia and China. "They need stuff from us," Schumer said. "They need trade. They need all kinds of assistance. We ought to play hardball with them." Lott said penalties should be imposed as a response to Iran's "irresponsible" behavior. "We cannot be intimidated by economic threats from their side," Lott said. "At the minimum, we should go to the UN Security Council and we should impose economic sanctions unless there is some dramatic change in the Iranian position." "I don't think it's a stretch to say that if the Iranians had a nuclear missile that this president might well use it against Israel," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). White House spokesman David Almacy said: "The international community is determined not to let Iran develop a nuclear weapon. How we address that regime's continued non-compliance will be decided in the days and weeks ahead."