Iran warns UN referral kills Russian plan

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Feb. 03 – Iran would no longer consider a proposal by Russia aimed at averting a diplomatic showdown on the international scene over Tehran’s suspected nuclear weapons work if the United Nations nuclear watchdog referred the Islamic Republic’s nuclear file to the Security Council, a top Iranian nuclear negotiator said on Friday. Iran Focus

Tehran, Iran, Feb. 03 – Iran would no longer consider a proposal by Russia aimed at averting a diplomatic showdown on the international scene over Tehran’s suspected nuclear weapons work if the United Nations nuclear watchdog referred the Islamic Republic’s nuclear file to the Security Council, a top Iranian nuclear negotiator said on Friday.

The 35-nation board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency are currently in an emergency session, debating a resolution tabled by the European Union which seeks to report Tehran to the Security Council.

Javad Vaeidi, a senior official in Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), said that if such a move was made then “Moscow’s proposal would be destroyed”, the state-run ISNA news agency reported.

“If the board adopt this resolution against us, in accordance with the law ratified in the Majlis (Parliament) it will mean the end of the Russian proposal”, Vaeidi said.

“If the Security Council becomes involved there will be no way we can continue to discuss the Russian proposal”, he added.

Simon Bailey, an analyst at the London-based Gulf Intelligence Monitor, dismissed the Iranian warning as an “eleventh-hour clutching at straws”.

“The Russian offer has been on the table for months and Iran has repeatedly poked holes in it”, Bailey said in a telephone interview. “Now, Iran is trying to use the Russian offer as a bargaining chip to scare the West and prevent it from pushing for Security Council referral. It won’t work“.

Moscow had suggested that Iran carry out uranium enrichment exclusively on Russian soil under the watchful eyes of international inspectors to ensure its nuclear program remains peaceful.

On Friday, Russian Foreign Minister expressed his dismay at recent comments by hard-line Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who recently raised doubts about the intentions of countries willing to supply Iran with nuclear fuel.

“It is not serious to throw doubt on what Russia has honestly proposed to Iran”, Sergei Lavrov said, according to the RIA Novosti news agency.