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September 25, 2005
U.S. Praises Vote to Report Iran
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
WASHINGTON, Sept. 24 - The Bush administration praised the International Atomic Energy Agency's vote on Saturday to report Iran to the United Nations Security Council over its nuclear program but also acknowledged the uncertainty of the road ahead.
"This is a significant step forward in the international effort to isolate Iran," said R. Nicholas Burns, under secretary of state for political affairs. "Iran now needs to reflect on its choices."
The agency board will not report Iran to the Security Council before November, and senior administration officials said they hoped Iran would realize the gravity of its situation before then and reconsider its hard-line view on its nuclear program.
"The next steps are very clear in what is expected of Iran," said Robert Joseph, under secretary for arms control and international security, speaking to reporters on Saturday.
The wording of the report must be worked out and then voted on in November, setting up another possible debate. Then the issue moves to the Security Council, where the outcome is even less certain.
China and Russia oppose taking action against Iran, but Mr. Burns and Mr. Joseph said they were cheered that both countries chose to abstain Saturday rather than vote against the resolution.
Mr. Burns said he thought the combative speech by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, before the United Nations General Assembly last Saturday had "backfired" and persuaded several countries including India, which voted to support the resolution, to change their view.
But India could pay a price. It recently completed a deal with Iran to build a natural gas pipeline between their countries, and Iran could choose to back away from that as retaliation.
IAEA issues ultimatum to Iran
September 25th, 2005
After several weeks of delay, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors has voted on a resolution calling for Iran to come clean on all aspects of its nuclear program. The vote is essentially an ultimatum that says unless Tehran opens up all of its nuclear facilities to inspection; the case will be brought before the UN Security Council, which could then impose economic sanctions.
The month-long delay was used by the IAEA itself and certain member countries opposed to economic sanctions to dilute the findings of a previous report on Irans potential violations of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT). The IAEA went so far as to hire a secret group of scientists to aid in rationalizing the mullahs deceptions. Despite the cooperation of the legacy press in muddying the waters, it seems there was more than enough doubt about Irans suspicious activities.
A total of 22 out of 35 board members voted for European Union motion while 12 abstained. Voting for the measure were Canada, Australia, Japan, India, Peru, Singapore and Ecuador. All European members of the Board of Governors voted for the ultimatum, which is not surprising considering they were scammed out of billions of Euros in nuclear fuel reprocessing contracts by Russia and Iran .
The affirmative vote from India is particularly reassuring for Indo-US cooperation in South Asia. India has an ever-growing demand for energy, and their IAEA vote reinforces their sincerity vis-à-vis the Indo-US Nuclear Pact signed last July. India is recognizing its responsibilities in the international coalition to prevent rogue nations from acquiring nuclear weapons. The US and India now appear to have teamed up to thwart Irans plans to split off important allies in the War on Terror by using the carrots of cheap energy deals and gas pipeline jobs for Pakistan and India.
The only member nation voting against the resolution was Venezuela, which is also not surprising. This past spring, the Iranian energy company, Petropars, tendered a bid to run Venezuelas Bidboland gas refinery. Cooperation with dictator Hugo Chavez would be a logical move for the mullahs in order to gain a lever of influence in the Western Hemisphere.
Irans non-compliance with the provisions of the NPT could result in referral to the Security Council in November; however, any vote to impose economic sanctions would face a veto from Russia and China. This would further demonstrate the power and influence of a new Asian alliance working against US national security interests in the Middle East and Central Asia.
Therefore, look for the UN to be once again shown impotent in keeping the lid on the nuclear ambitions of rogue nations. The Security Council votes in November will tell the tale of who will be in the newly developing alliances, and possibly show that old alliances are being rebuilt. The battle lines are being drawn anew.
Hat tip: N.S. Rajaram
Douglas Hanson is the national security correspondent of The American Thinker.
Kathianne said:Not that it will do any good, but it at least puts it on the table:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/25/p...b572101c8caabd&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
GunnyL said:Gee, they're going to put Iran on report? I'm sure they will cease and desist all activities in the nuclear arena now .....
Kathianne said:Quite right, however it took the US how long to get around to Iraq? What sparked the decision? It takes alot here too to move to the plane of war. Iran may or may not take ten years.
