Britain welcomes IAEA’s decision to report Iran to UN

Iran Focus: London, Feb. 04 – Britain welcomed on Saturday the adoption of a resolution by the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency to report Iran to the United Nations Security Council, describing it as “significant”. Iran Focus

London, Feb. 04 – Britain welcomed on Saturday the adoption of a resolution by the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency to report Iran to the United Nations Security Council, describing it as “significant”.

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw in a statement said, “Today, the IAEA Board has passed a resolution reporting Iran to the United Nations Security Council. The voting was 27 in favour, with 3 against and 5 abstentions. This is a significant improvement in the international consensus since the last resolution in September 2005, not withstanding the tougher nature of this resolution and changed composition of the board”.

“The scale of the vote in this resolution’s favour is significant. It signals the international community’s determination to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons in the Middle East. Iran’s failure to comply with IAEA Board resolutions, and its decision not to negotiate with the European side in good faith, prompted the Board’s decision today to involve the Security Council to reinforce the IAEA’s authority”, Straw said .

He added that Iran “still has a crucial opportunity” until March when the IAEA Board meets again to comply with this latest resolution by “resuming full suspension of its enrichment related and reprocessing activities and taking the steps required to address all outstanding questions from the IAEA”.

Otherwise, he said, “Decisions by the Security Council are almost inevitable”.