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| Wednesday, 24 November 2004 |
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Iran objects to wording in nuclear resolution-UK SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Tuesday (Reuters) Iran has raised objections to the wording of a draft U.N. resolution on its nuclear activities, including the suspension of its uranium enrichment programme, Britain said on Tuesday. The draft resolution, due to be submitted to a Thursday meeting of the U.N. nuclear watchdog's board of governors in Vienna, follows Tehran's suspension on Monday of activities that could be used to make a nuclear bomb. The suspension is likely to thwart U.S. efforts to report Iran to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions, but countries on the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) board were still negotiating over the resolution's wording. The United States accuses Tehran of trying to develop atomic bombs under the veil of a nuclear power project but Iran says it only wants to generate electricity. "Iran made strong representations about some parts of the agreement," said British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw after meeting his Iranian counterpart Kamal Kharrazi on the sidelines of a conference on Iraq. Officials at the conference and diplomats in Vienna said Iran was concerned about the wording of two paragraphs in the EU-drafted resolution, specifically on the suspension of uranium enrichment activities and its monitoring by the IAEA. "Iran's problem is the way the suspension is described and the way its monitoring by (IAEA chief Mohamed) ElBaradei is described," a senior British official said. He said it has always been essential to Iran that the suspension is recognised as voluntary and it wants to avoid a 'trigger clause' which would refer Iran to the Security Council if it breaches the suspension, something the U.S. has demanded. However, Iranian officials are concerned about what they see as an indirect trigger in the text. |
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