International Atomic Energy Agency Approaches Approval of Resolution Regarding Iran - 2004-06-16

Diplomats from 35 countries in the International Atomic Energy Agency's Board of Governors say they are close to an agreement on a resolution that condemns Iran for its lack of transparency regarding its nuclear program. This resolution is at the top of the agenda for the Board of Governors meeting this week. Iran has responded to the draft resolution with a barrage of statements, threatening to reduce its cooperation with agency inspectors and resume uranium enrichment if the resolution is approved. Tehran has firmly requested that the Board of Governors completely abandon the resolution concerning Iran. Mohammad Khatami, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, stated that if the agency passes a resolution criticizing Iran for not fully cooperating with inspectors, Tehran may resume uranium enrichment. Khatami said on Wednesday that the draft resolution under consideration is very bad; however, he added that Iran currently wants to cooperate with the international community. The U.S. representative at the International Atomic Energy Agency stated that Iran's threats indicate that it is hiding something. Diplomats expect the draft resolution to be approved at the agency's board meeting in Vienna. Seyed Hossein Mousavian, Iran's chief negotiator and a member of the Supreme National Security Council, who is in Vienna, accused the United States of exaggerating the Iran case for political reasons. He said, 'I think the Iranian nuclear issue was severely caught up in political games at the beginning of September, but now there is no room for political games with the Iranian nuclear issue.' Meanwhile, Kenneth Brill, the U.S. representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency, used a basketball analogy to say that Iran's intimidation pressure across the board is a clear sign that Tehran has nuclear secrets to hide. The United States and others have accused Iran of having a clandestine nuclear weapons program and misleading international inspectors regarding its nuclear activities. Iran denies these allegations.