There wont be war after all.
"The UN Security Council mulled a binding Franco-British draft
resolution demanding a halt to Iran's uranium enrichment work as
Paris ruled out using force to end the standoff with Tehran.
Envoys of the council's five permanent members -- Britain, China,
France, Russia and the United States -- met behind closed doors to
review the text as technical experts of the full 15-member council
met separately to pore over it for possible changes.
"We had a very frank discussion and we understand better our
positions," French ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere said as he
emerged from the gathering. "We will propose another meeting
tomorrow. I still believe we can have things move swiftly."
"We had a good discussion," British ambassador Emyr Jones Parry
concurred. "We (the P5) are going to meet again tomorrow
morning.'
"I hope the full council will meet in the afternoon (Friday) to
consider where we are," US Ambassador John Bolton said.
Council ambassadors meanwhile awaited instructions from their
capitals ahead of a vote which US officials now say is not expected
before Monday's New York meeting of foreign ministers of six major
powers working on the Iran nuclear issue.
The six countries are Britain, China, France, Russia and the United
States -- the five veto-wielding council permanent members -- plus
Germany.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said
ambassadors of the "P5" plus Germany would discuss the draft over
dinner in New York on Monday.
"I don't really expect it (the resolution) to come to a vote before
the dinner," a senior US official, speaking on background on
condition of anonymity, said in Washington.
In his first public reaction to the draft, Iran's UN envoy Javad
Zarif said that "if it is an attempt to get Iran to agree, it is
not a good one ... Iran does not respond to threats and
intimidation."
Iran insists its nuclear ambitions are strictly peaceful. But
Washington and its European allies accuse Tehran of using its
civilian programme as a cover to build atomic weapons.
The Franco-British draft invokes Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which
can authorize economic sanctions or even military action as a last
resort in cases of threats to international peace and security. It
needs at least nine yes votes and no veto from any of the council's
five permanent members to pass.
It demands that Iran suspend "all enrichment-related and
reprocessing activities, including research and development, and
suspend the construction of a reactor moderated by heavy
water".
It also calls on all states to "exercise vigilance" in preventing
the transfer to Iran of equipment that could assist its nuclear and
missile programmes.
The text, drafted in close consultations with Germany and the
United States, did not set a specific timeframe for Iran to comply,
but France's UN Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere said Tehran was
expected to do so "no later than early June".
Russia and China have already indicated that they have a problem
with the reference to Chapter 7, because it had been used by
Washington to justify going to war in Iraq even though there was no
explicit UN authorization.
Beijing and Moscow, which have close trading ties with Tehran, are
cool to sanctions and adamantly oppose resorting to military action
against Iran.
In Paris, French Premier Dominique de Villepin also said Thursday
that military action was not the answer, drawing on the US-led
invasion and occupation of Iraq as an example.
"We know that not only would it not solve anything, but that
sometimes worsens, further, the situation. We saw that in a clear
way with Iraq," he noted.
Meanwhile Washington rejected a call by one of its key allies,
Germany, for one-on-one US-Iran talks on Tehran's nuclear
programme. Iran and the United States have not had direct relations
since 1980, which many experts say is a major factor in the current
diplomatic impasse.
In another burst of defiance, Iran claimed Thursday it had made
more progress in ultra-sensitive nuclear work.
"Iran can now mass-produce centrifuges. This is an important
success, because no other country was willing to sell us this
technology," a deputy head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation,
Hossein Faghihian, was quoted as saying in Iranian media.
Centrifuges are used to enrich uranium for either nuclear reactor
fuel or atomic bomb material. - CNA
US no support.
