France, UK, Germany produce new UN Iran resolution
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Europeans distributed on Thursday a draft U.N. resolution that threatens to consider sanctions if Iran fails to suspend uranium and plutonium enrichment work at a yet undecided date in August.
But Iran said again it would not reply until August 22 to an offer of commercial and technological incentives if it curbs its nuclear ambitions, which the United States and its allies believe are a cover for bomb making.
Tehran threatened to "reconsider its nuclear policies" presumably a withdrawal from the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), if "the path of confrontation is chosen," according to a statement by Ali Larijani, secretary of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council.
The draft resolution, distributed to the 15 U.N. Security Council members by France, Britain and Germany, has not yet been approved by Russia and China, who earlier submitted amendments that would weaken some of the provisions.
No vote has been set and U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said junior diplomats from Germany and the permanent five council members with veto power -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China --would negotiate further.
Bolton, who did not give his view on the draft, said perhaps the United States could serve "as a bridge" between the Europeans and Russia and China.
SUSPEND ENRICHMENT
The European draft "decides" that Iran "shall suspend all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development and suspend the construction of a reactor moderated by heavy water."
The suspension is to be verified by the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the document says.
It "expresses its intention" if Iran does not comply with the resolution to adopt measures under Article 41 of Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which relates to economic and diplomatic sanctions. But it excludes any military force.
At a July 12 meeting in Paris, all six countries agreed Iran had given no indication it would engage seriously on the incentive package offered by major powers in early June and referred the issue back to the Security Council.
Iran is building a heavy-water nuclear reactor at Arak, 120 miles southwest of Tehran. Western nations are concerned the plant's plutonium by-product could be used to produce nuclear warheads.
Spent fuel can be processed to extract weapons-grade plutonium. The plutonium can also be mixed with enriched uranium to produce fuel for a special type of nuclear reactor.
Russia's U.N. Ambassador Valery Churkin suggested August 31 as a date for Iran to comply with the resolution and indicated Moscow was not in a hurry to adopt the document.
"We are not in a rush at all," Churkin said on Wednesday. "We do not want to ambush Iran in any way. We do not want to dictate things to Iran." But he made clear the six could not wait forever for Tehran's response.
In his statement on Thursday, released in New York, Larijani, said the nuclear program was restricted to electricity production as permitted under the NPT treaty and supported by most developing nations in the world.
"If the path of confrontation is chosen instead of the path of negotiations and if any measure is taken to limit the inalienable rights of the Iranian nations, then there will remain no option for the Islamic Republic of Iran but to reconsider its nuclear policies, "Larijani wrote.
