VIENNA (Reuters) – The U.N. Security Council’s five permanent members have agreed on a resolution that asks the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency to report Iran to the top world body over its nuclear programme, the document’s final text showed.
The resolution, obtained by Reuters on Wednesday, asks the International Atomic Energy Agency’s governing board to agree at a crisis meeting on Thursday to “convey” to the council key IAEA reports raising doubts about the nature of Iran’s nuclear work.
It called on Iran to restore confidence in its intentions by re-suspending all nuclear-fuel research and uranium enrichment-related work and implementing transparency measures by halting restrictions on access for IAEA investigators.
“(We) request the (IAEA) Director General to report to the Security Council that these steps are required of Iran by the Board and to report to the Security Council all IAEA reports and resolutions, as adopted, relating to these issues,” it said.
The resolution, to be voted on by the IAEA board’s 35 member states, voiced serious concern the IAEA was not yet able to clarify burning issues in Iran’s atomic project, including the surfacing last year of a document in Tehran that describes how to build the core of a nuclear warhead.
“(We) call on Iran to understand that the board lacks confidence in its intentions in seeking to develop a fissile material production capacity against the background of Iran’s record on safeguards,” the resolution said.
“(We) request Iran to extend full and prompt cooperation to the Agency, which the Director-General deems indispensable and overdue, and in particular to help the Agency clarify possible activities which could have a military dimension,” it said.
Iran concealed nuclear work of potential use for both civilian energy and bombs from U.N. inspectors for 18 years until 2003 and has delayed or evaded ongoing IAEA inquiries since, agency officials and Western diplomats say.
The resolution also called on Iran’s parliament to ratify the IAEA’s Additional Protocol, which permits snap inspections of nuclear-related facilities, to resolve concerns about possible “undeclared nuclear material and activities”.
Originally drafted by European Union powers Germany, France and Britain, and backed by Washington, the resolution was rewritten many times to achieve a consensus on Iran policy with Russia and China, struck in London talks on Monday.
The EU trio originally sought a tougher resolution referring Iran to the Security Council for consideration of sanctions.
But the final document used the word “report”, sought by the more wary Russians and Chinese to effectively rule out any Security Council action on sanctions before the next full IAEA report on Iran, due to be given to a March 6 board meeting.
