IRAN: The "noose" is tightening on Iran to prove it has no secret nuclear weapons programme or lose its legal right to obtain nuclear-related technology from Russia and other countries, a US official commented yesterday.
The official made the remark after the governing board of the United Nations nuclear watchdog - the International Atomic Energy Agency - passed a resolution setting Iran an October 31st deadline to make its case.
As the decision was taken, the Iranian delegation walked out in protest.
After that deadline, the IAEA board is expected in November to draw "definitive conclusions" about Iran's programme and whether the Islamic state should be declared in non-compliance of international non-proliferation obligations, he said.
"This time we hope there's not going to be a way to escape because this resolution is really tightening the noose on them" to co-operate, he said.
If Tehran does not co-operate and Iran is officially declared in non-compliance, it "will forfeit its right to share nuclear technology for peaceful purposes" and Russia will not be able to provide critical nuclear fuel for Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant, the official said.
Although Russia is the main foreign contributor to Bushehr, China, Pakistan and some Western countries also provide dual-use technology and equipment and "that would no longer be legal under international law if Iran was not a country in good standing" under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, he said.
But he acknowledged that a non-compliance vote in November would not be not automatic. "We're going to have to work it," he said.
Russia's co-operation with Iran's nuclear programme remains a serious tension in relations with the United States and has been the focus of many trips to Moscow by Undersecretary of State John Bolton, who is due to visit Russia again next week.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to meet President Bush in Washington later this month. The US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the resolution approved yesterday was a "significant compromise" from what the United States had been pushing for.
The Bush administration - which lumps Iran in an "axis of evil" with Iraq, when ruled by Saddam Hussein, and North Korea - felt Tehran was given a "last chance" to co-operate last June and wanted the IAEA to declare it in non-compliance at this week's meeting in Vienna.
But the official said the administration was extremely pleased with the resolution that did emerge because it showed there was strong international pressure on Iran.
The resolution passed without a vote, meaning Russia and China did not have to abstain, he said.
"The key to this is that (IAEA) director general Mohammad ElBaradei is being told to prepare a report for a meeting in November where the board of governors will draw definitive conclusions," the official said.
He praised the support of US allies who sponsored different drafts of the resolution, calling it "very, very strong, especially from Canada ... The Europeans stood with us".
The official insisted if Iran "turns over a new leaf" and comes clean about its nuclear programme "there won't be a new resolution in November".
But he expressed doubt that that would happen, noting that Iran's delegation walked out of yesterday's closed-door meeting in protest, warning that Tehran would have a "deep review" of its co-operation with the IAEA.
In an August 26th report, the IAEA said it had found traces of weapons-grade highly enriched uranium at an enrichment facility at Natanz, Iran, sparking fears the country had been purifying uranium for use in an atomic bomb. Iran denied the charge. - (Reuters)