UN/IRAN: A UN resolution on Iran's 18-year concealment of atomic research gives the Islamic Republic one choice - total transparency or possible sanctions, Western diplomats said yesterday.
The US struck a deal on Monday with France, Germany and Britain on a UN nuclear resolution that condemns Iran for hiding its atomic programme in the past, but encourages its new policy of honesty and full co-operation.
In Washington, the US Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, said the US was very pleased with the resolution, especially the part which immediately refers any future Iranian violation of international agreements to the IAEA board.
"That's...an element that we wanted to see in the resolution, which points out that action will be forthcoming - appropriately so - if there is any indication in the future that Iran is not meeting its obligations."
The compromise draft resolution of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) board of governors falls short of what Washington had originally hoped for - to send Iran to the UN Security Council for breaches of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which could have led to economic sanctions.
One Western diplomat said Iran, which denies US allegations that it wants atomic weapons, has accomplished its goal and avoided a report to the Security Council.
But he said this was not a total victory for Iran, and warned that if any other secrets, past, present or future, were uncovered Iran would no longer get the benefit of the doubt from UN nuclear watchdog and it would head to the Security Council.
"Iran must move forward with full compliance or face the consequences," another senior Western diplomat told reporters.
Iran's ambassador to the IAEA, Mr Ali Akbar Salehi, said in Iran's Qods newspaper "the most important fact is that the United States is failing step by step in forming a consensus against Iran".
A senior US State Department official said the resolution "welcomes the promises (of transparency) from Iran, but makes clear that their past failures and breaches requires them to live up to their promises".
In the event of further breaches, the resolution calls for the IAEA's governing board to "meet immediately to consider all options at its disposal in accordance with IAEA statute and Iran's safeguards agreement" - one of those options being the Security Council.
This is the so-called "trigger" clause of the resolution, which was the main sticking point in the week-long negotiations that began after France, Britain and Germany began circulating a resolution that Washington rejected as too weak.
Washington had been pushing the trio to say in this clause that any further breaches uncovered by the IAEA would automatically be reported to the Security Council, but diplomats close to the talks said this was categorically refused by the Germans, who were afraid it would backfire and discourage Iran.
The three European countries wanting to encourage Iran to continue with its stated policy of fully co-operating with the IAEA rather than punish it for past failures.
The French President, Mr Jacques Chirac, yesterday hailed the deal, which was "in line with efforts made by the international community to convince the Iranians to genuinely take lasting steps that will rebuild confidence".
The resolution follows an IAEA report that found Iran had concealed a uranium-enrichment programme for 18 years and secretly reprocessed plutonium, useable in weapons.
It said there was "no evidence" of an arms programme, but the jury was still out as to whether one existed.