Iran stands firm on blocking UN

[sonz]

Iran has threatened to block snap UN inspections of its nuclear facilities if it is taken to the UN Security Council, but the US says the West will not be deflected from that course.

"I'm not going to prejudge what the United Nations Security Council should do," George Bush, the US president, said at a news conference in Washington with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday



"But I recognise that it's logical that a country which has rejected diplomatic entreaties be sent to the United Nations Security Council."



In turn, Merkel said Western countries would "not be intimidated" by Iran's decision to go ahead with its nuclear programme.


Tehran raised the stakes in its dispute with the West this week by removing UN seals on equipment that purifies uranium, which can be used for power, or if highly enriched, in bombs.



The US and the EU's three biggest powers said talks with Iran on the issue were at a dead end.



After her official meeting with Bush, Merkel said: "It's essential, we feel, that the EU-3 (Britain, France and Germany), together with the United States, take a common position here, become active."



Iranian threat



Tehran denies accusations it is seeking nuclear weapons and says it needs nuclear technology to generate electricity. Iran is the world's fourth biggest oil exporter.



Mottaki said the West could face
consequences if action was taken
Manouchehr Mottaki, the Iranian foreign minister, said bringing Iran before the Security Council, as threatened by the US and European powers on Thursday, would have "consequences" for the West and Tehran would have to "end all of its voluntary measures" in response.



Iran has repeatedly threatened to end snap checks and resume uranium enrichment if taken to the Council.



Iran's co-operation with snap UN inspections is voluntary, but halting them would reduce its cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog to the legal minimum.



But Iran's new representative to the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, Aliasghar Soltaniyeh, said that Tehran remained "fully committed" to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and its statutory obligations to the IAEA.



International stance



On Friday, Wang Guangya, China's UN ambassador, said Beijing feared taking the case to the council "might complicate the issue" and could harden the positions of some parties.



China has considerable economic relations with Tehran and imported 12% of its crude oil from Iran in the first 11 months of 2005. It traditionally opposes sanctions, saying they are a violation of other countries' internal affairs.



Ivanov said Russia will still sell
short-range missiles to Iran
Russia, for its part, will go ahead with a $1 billion deal to sell short-range missiles to Iran despite the nuclear dispute, Sergei Ivanov, the Russian defence minister, said.



He said Moscow's proposal to enrich uranium for Iran on Russian soil - a compromise rejected by Tehran but seen by the West as an option to defuse the crisis - was still on the table.



Bush on Friday noted that the US and other nations had "made it abundantly clear" to Tehran that developing nuclear capabilities or weapons was not acceptable.



"And the reason it's unacceptable is because Iran armed with a nuclear weapon represents a grave threat to the security of the world," he said, noting that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, had only recently declared the destruction of Israel was an important part of his agenda.



UN referral



The board of the IAEA, which has found no firm proof Iran is seeking nuclear arms, is expected to meet in early February to consider referring Iran to the Security Council.



In the past, Russia and China have opposed this.



"This is not a dispute between the EU-3 and Iran. It is the interest of the international community as a whole"

Emyr Jones Parry,
Britain's UN ambassador
At the UN headquarters in New York, Emyr Jones Parry, Britain's envoy, said: "We have a very serious situation with Iran.



"This is not a dispute between the EU-3 and Iran. It is the interest of the international community as a whole.



"What is our interest, it is to get Iran to comply with the wishes of the (IAEA) governing board. Once it's done that and gone back into an understanding with the governing board, if it's prepared to enter into negotiations, we would welcome that."



He said the EU-3 had made a substantial offer of economic incentives to coax Tehran into renouncing a nuclear weapons capability but noted that this was predicated on Iranian compliance with its IAEA obligations.



"The onus of that rests very firmly with Iran."



Football expulsion



Also on Friday, a leading British politician said Iran should be expelled from the soccer World Cup for resuming its nuclear programme.

Michael Ancram, a Conservative lawmaker, said exclusion from football's biggest tournament "would give a very, very clear signal to Iran that the international community will not accept what they are doing".



"Either they [Iran] totally cease their nuclear weapons programme or they endanger their relationships with the entire organised international community"

Mark Regev,
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman
Israeli officials said on Friday they remain hopeful that concerted international diplomacy can end the crisis, but that a military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities - led by others - is possible.

The Iranian government, Mark Regev, the Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman, said, should be presented with a clear choice: "Either they totally cease their nuclear weapons programme or they endanger their relationships with the entire organised international community.

"We believe the combination of fanatical ideology together with nuclear weaponry is a combination that no thinking person can feel comfortable with."