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Draft Resolutions Call on Iran to Comply With IAEA Demands - 2003-09-09


A resolution is circulating at the International Atomic Energy Agency meeting in Vienna calling for Iran to comply with all the agency's demands by the end of October.

The draft resolution presented by Britain, France, and Germany calls for Iran to fully disclose details of its nuclear program, including what type of material and equipment it has imported. The resolution also calls for Iran to give full cooperation to IAEA inspectors, including the right to do environmental sampling, which can reveal contamination from nuclear material.

The draft would require Iran to fulfill all its obligations to the U.N. nuclear agency by the end of October.

Another draft presented by South Africa calls on Iran to remedy all failures to abide by IAEA demands, and to show full transparency on its nuclear program. But that draft does not set a deadline. The draft was circulated on behalf of the non-aligned movement, of which Iran is a member.

The IAEA is expected to vote on an Iran resolution during its meeting this week.

In Tuesday's session, the United States made a strong statement on Iran's nuclear record. Ambassador Kenneth Brill accused Iran of violating its nuclear safeguard obligations, and has long been providing false and misleading information regarding its nuclear ambitions.

According to the text of his remarks, Ambassador Brill said Iran has been "working in secret since the 1980s to develop sophisticated nuclear facilities." He dismissed Iran's claim that it is cooperating with the IAEA. Instead, the U.S. ambassador said Iran has "been stonewalling and stalling" so that results of important environmental tests are not yet ready.

He said Iran is in non-compliance with its obligations under IAEA rules. But Ambassador Brill said the United States also recognizes that many other nations want to give Iran one more chance.

The Iranian envoy Ali Akbar Salehi said Tehran had allowed more inspections than it is currently legally bound to allow, and is acting as if it had already agreed to an additional inspections protocol that the IAEA wants it to sign.

"This is what we have already done," said Iranian envoy. "In other words what has been taking place since June up to now, it is like, as if, we have provisionally applied the protocol on ourselves by allowing the agency to visit the places which are not in the framework of the current agreements we have."

The IAEA board of governors' resolution is expected to call on Iran to officially sign the additional protocol allowing for surprise nuclear inspections.

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