IAEA discusses resolution on Iran

The big powers agree on compromise language for a resolution to be presented on the second day of the IAEA meeting, while the nuclear watchdog chief suggests sending a special mission to Iran, The Jerusalem Post reports on Thursday.

Vienna-based Western diplomats said that six big powers - the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China - agreed on Thursday to use compromise language for a draft resolution on Iran. The resolution is to be put to the 35-nation IAEA governing board for approval by Friday, after Western states and Russia overcame divisions sparked by the IAEA's report on Iran.

But the resolution will not satisfy those in the West and in Israel, Iran's arch-enemy, who had hoped IAEA chief Yukiya Amano's report last week would trigger concrete international action to rein in Tehran.

The fact that the six big powers were ironing out an IAEA resolution will be welcomed in the West, after Amano's report prompted Russia to complain that it was politicized and dimmed chances of a negotiated solution to the Iran nuclear dispute.

The latest draft text - expected to be co-sponsored by all six powers - would stop short of taking concrete actions such as reporting Iran once again to the U.N. Security Council.

"The IAEA resolution will maintain pressure on Iran," one Western diplomat said. Others said they were waiting for Beijing to formally approve the text before putting it to the board meeting, which runs through Friday.


The UN nuclear watchdog wants to send a high-level mission to Iran to address mounting concerns it may be seeking to design atomic bombs, Amano said on Thursday, as Tehran expected to face censure at a meeting of agency member states.