Gary Fitleberg, December 7, 2003

The United States and European negotiators came to an agreement on a proposed resolution to condemn Iran for hiding its nuclear programs while encouraging it to cooperate with the watchdog U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency.

The IAEA draft resolution contained some harsh language regarding Iran’s long nuclear program history and record of concealment and deception. The sharp condemnation stated the IAEA "strongly deplores Iran’s past failures and breaches of its obligation to comply" with the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

The Bush administration and U.S. government had hoped initially to have Iran face possible U.N. Security Council sanctions. This will not be part of the resolution and the issue will have to wait, at least for now, until the IAEA can prove conclusively that Iran is developing a nuclear program with the aim of weapons of mass destruction.

Although the draft avoids any direct mention of the Security Council, it alludes to the U.N. body by warning that the atomic agency would use "all options at its disposal" in case of further evidence of clandestine nuclear activities in Iran or failure to keep its nuclear programs open to scrutiny.

The draft broke days of deadlock. It was formally submitted to the agency’s board of governors.

The IAEA report had concluded Iran had concealed a uranium enrichment program for 18 years and secretly reprocessed plutonium, which is usable in nuclear weapons of mass destruction. Although it stated thus far that there was "no evidence" of an arms program it also noted that a further investigation would be necessary and pending a final conclusion.

A senior State Department official stated that the draft resolution made it crystal clear that the matter may still be referred to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions.

The compromise draft language was explicitly to make it palatable to the Europeans and Iran.

The tenuous issue of wording was a sticking point for the United States which accuses Iran of wanting to develop nuclear weapons of mass destruction based on intelligence information. Tending to err on the side of caution, the U.S. did not force the issue due to a similar situation with Iran’s neighbor Iraq. But Iran’s nuclear activities will be under very close scrutiny by the entire international community which must maintain a watchful eye. Despite the concealment, Iran maintains its innocence in developing its nuclear program for peaceful purposes.

France, Germany and Britain countered the U.S. position with a rather softly worded draft meant to encourage Iran to open its nuclear programs to close scrutiny by the IAEA and its inspectors. Many analysts in the U.S. believe that this is Iran’s stalling tactic to buy it time to develop its nuclear program for weapons of mass destruction. France and Germany have adopted this defensive posture as some analysts believe these two nations have been instrumental in Iran’s nuclear program by supplying materials.

Gary Fitleberg is a Political Analyst specializing in International Relations with emphasis on Middle East affairs.

Copyright © 2003 Gary Fitleberg