UN Watchdog Censures Iran over Nuclear Energy Program

Mohammed El Baradei, outgoing head of the UN nuclear watchdog, IAEA, which has voted to censure Iran. Photo by BGNES

The UN nuclear watchdog has voted to censure Iran and demanded that it immediately freezes operations at a once-secret uranium enrichment plant.

The vote, with 25 in favor, 3 against, and 6 abstentions, has come one day after Mohammed El Baradei, the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had lashed out at Iran on Thursday, accusing them of stonewalling investigators, and stating that his efforts to uncover the truth had “effectively reached a dead end”.

El Baradei's remarks had refocused attention on Iran’s alleged work on weapons design at a time when the West is debating how to respond, after Tehran backed away from a commitment it made in early October to temporarily send most of its nuclear fuel abroad for reprocessing.

The IAEA resolution was strengthened by backing from Russia and China, broadening the message of international displeasure with Iran that has frequently been voiced in the West. It was not immediately clear whether Moscow and Beijing would go further and support the expansion of sanctions that US President Obama’s administration may promote.

The resolution Friday urged Iran “to comply fully and without delay” with previous UN Security Council resolutions on its nuclear program, and to “meet the requirements of the Board of Governors, including by suspending immediately construction at Qum.”

It also urged Iran to clarify the purpose of the enrichment plant and provide a chronology of its design and construction.

Reacting to the resolution, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran’s Ambassador to IAEA, criticized the Friday resolution as “hasty and undue”, saying that it would “jeopardize the conducive environment vitally needed” for successful negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program.

Glyn Davies, the American Ambassador to the agency, said that international patience with Iran was running out, and the group of six world powers negotiating with it could not continue to participate in endless rounds of fruitless talks for talks’ sake.

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