Iran Warns Against Raising Nuclear Issue in U.N.

Iran's
chief nuclear negotiator said today that Iran would stop allowing
inspections of its nuclear facilities and restart uranium enrichment if
the United States and its allies use the "language of threats" and
refer Iran to the United Nations Security Council.

The negotiator, Dr. Ali A. Larijani, was speaking
at a news conference in Tehran just days after the Iranian president,
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, stood before the General Assembly in New York,
vowing to press ahead with a nuclear program and berating the United
States and Europe for trying to interfere.

Last month, despite an agreement with Germany,
France and Britain, Iran resumed uranium conversion, the first step in
the nuclear-fuel production process, at its plant in Isfahan. The
conversion process has been taking place under International Atomic
Energy Agency verification.

The Europeans have pressed Iran for a permanent end
to its nuclear activities, which Europe and the United States suspect
are intended to make nuclear arms. Iran says its program is for
peaceful energy purposes.

For several weeks, the United States and its
European allies have been pushing the 35 members of the atomic energy
agency to support the referral of Iran to the Security Council.

"If they want to use the language of threats
against Iran or send Iran's case to the Security Council, Iran will
review staying within the N.P.T. and will definitely start uranium
enrichment," Dr. Larijani said, referring to the Nuclear
Nonproliferation Treaty, under which international monitors can make
inspections on short notice.

He also said Iran rejects the setting of a deadline
for the country to stop work at the facility at Isfahan, saying that
setting a deadline "is equal to sending Iran's case to the Security
Council."

In his speech in New York on Saturday, Mr.
Ahmadinejad insisted that Iran would not give up its "right to pursue
peaceful nuclear energy."

The United States and its allies said Sunday that
they would push for a resolution critical of Iran from the United
Nations nuclear monitoring agency, although the body might not refer
the country to the Security Council for sanctions.

Mohamed ElBaradei, the director general of
International Atomic Energy Agency, said Monday at the start of
meetings this week of the agency's board of governors that Iran
continued to fulfill its obligations by providing access to facilities,
but that additional transparency measures were needed.

####

Title: Iran bids to redefine nuclear limits: At the UN, Iran's president challenges the sway of Western powers on the issue
Publication/Source: CS Monitor
By: Scott Peterson
Date: September 19, 2005

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - Iran has hardened its
determination to pursue its controversial nuclear program, brushing
aside US and European threats of censure while trying to create a new
diplomatic framework for nonproliferation.

Iran's newly elected President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
declared at the U.N. Saturday that nuclear power was an "inalienable
right" for Iran and accused the West of practicing "nuclear apartheid"
by depriving it of nuclear know-how.

Iran has increasingly seized the offensive in the
standoff over its nuclear efforts. And it appears to be gaining ground
as it casts its clash with the West as a spearhead for ending big-power
dominance.

"It is, of course, an issue of proliferation, but
really it is about the nature of the [Iranian] regime, its politics,
and its ambitions," says Shahram Chubin, head of research at the Geneva
Centre for Security Policy.

The dispute masks a power play "on both sides,"
between Iran and the US, says Mr. Chubin, who runs an annual arms
control course for diplomats working on the Middle East. "It's a
question of who is going to dominate the regional order."

In his address, President Ahmedinejad accused the
US of trying to divide the world into "light and dark countries." The
US was failing to abide by the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT)
itself, he charged, with a doctrine that includes preemptive strikes
and developing a new generation of tactical nuclear weapons. And
Ahmadinejad laid down a defiant marker.

"If some try to impose their will on the Iranian
people through resort to a language of force and threat with Iran, we
will reconsider our entire approach to the nuclear issue," the populist
Iranian president said.

Within days of Ahmadinejad being sworn in as Iran's
new president in August, Iran resumed its nuclear enrichment
activities. Those had been voluntarily suspended for much of the past
two years during talks with the EU3.

"The US only takes countries seriously that have
reached a certain degree of technological and economic power (hence the
cooperation with India)," says Bijan Khajehpour, an analyst and
chairman of the Atieh Group of companies in Tehran. "This fact
certainly motivates Iran to become ... more powerful."

Washington alleges that Iran's program is a cover
for making atomic bombs, an accusation the Iranian president dismissed
as a "pure propaganda ploy."

But intense lobbying to censure Iran by the US and Great Britain, France and Germany - the EU3 - appear to have failed.

Iran is due to face tough questions in Vienna
Monday, when the board of the UN's nuclear watchdog International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) meets. UN inspections in Iran have turned
up no evidence of a clandestine weapons program, but the latest report,
earlier this month, said the IAEA could not rule it out.

Still, US and EU3 plans to have Iran referred to
the UN Security Council for reporting violations and possible sanctions
have unraveled, as Russia, China, India and others voiced opposition,
despite direct appeals to leaders, in some cases, from President George
Bush.

To dispel fears of Iran's nuclear intentions, Mr.
Ahmadinejad spelled out acceptance of broader oversight, suggesting the
involvement of third countries such as South Africa, or even private
companies working with Iranian scientists. He also appeared to indicate
that Iran was constrained by Islam in developing weapons. "[I]n
accordance with our religious principles, pursuit of nuclear weapons in
prohibited," he said.

But that did not convince Western doubters. A State
Department official told reporters that the address was a "very
aggressive speech, which would seem to cross the EU3 red line."

A British official called the speech "unhelpful,"
and French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said that referring
Iran to the Security Council "remains on the agenda."

Iran bid for more support from nonaligned countries
- and sought to counter the US push to isolate the Islamic Republic -
when Ahmadinejad promised to share its nuclear knowledge with other
Muslim countries.

"We believe that atomic energy is a blessing given
by God; it is an opportunity given to all nations," the staunchly
conservative leader said.

"Ironically, those who have actually used nuclear
weapons, continue to produce, stockpile and extensively test such
weapons ... [and] are not only refusing to remedy their past deeds, but
in clear breach of the NPT, are trying to prevent other countries from
acquiring the technology to produce peaceful nuclear energy."

The offer to share nuclear technology has "changed
the dynamics," says Mr. Khajehpour, because "some Western players now
see more reason to stop Iran's efforts to enrich uranium."

But the offer was likely "targeted at Iran's
neighbors to give them assurances that Iran is not planning to deprive
the region of nuclear technology."

Still, the offer has set off alarm bells in Western
capitals. "That's red meat for anyone concerned with nonproliferation
and security threats," and may prove to be "another bargaining chip to
give away," says Natalie Goldring, at the Security Studies Program at
Georgetown University in Washington.

But the inability of the US and EU to muster
sufficient votes at the IAEA or Security Council to sanction Iran, for
a combination of reasons, points toward a shifting nonproliferation
framework.

"The US has very little leverage with potential
proliferators," says Ms. Goldring. "When headlines in the US talk of
preemptive attacks on countries without nuclear weapons, and that [the
US] will improve its tactical nuclear arsenal, our leverage is zero or
negative."

"We've given the message to Iran that we will not
do a whole lot to stand in their way," says Goldring, noting that India
and Pakistan, after detonating secret nuclear devices in 1998, survived
sanctions and are now being courted by the US. "If I were in Iran, I
would see a US tied down in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Mississippi, so Iran
has some freedom of movement now."

The dispute has resulted in a diplomatic tug-of-war between the US and Iran.

Washington sought to enlist the support of India,
China, and Russia's President Vladimir Putin. But all three urged
caution - Mr. Putin, while standing beside Mr. Bush at the White House
Friday.

In Tehran, says Chubin, "they talk about the rising
East, the rising Asia - this is the old multipolarity: 'If we get Iran
tied to Russia, China, and India, then the US would not be able to do
anything.'"

"And the Russians almost say the same thing," adds
Chubin, who visited Moscow earlier this month. "They do it politely,
but they are constantly complaining about US influence.... The Russians
are not going to annoy the Americans by supporting Iran, but they are
not going to make it easy for them, either."