Iaea Votes To Censure Iran

(JTA) -- The United Nations' nuclear watchdog agency voted to censure Iran for building a nuclear enrichment facility in secret and demanded it freeze its nuclear enrichment program.

The International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors' resolution, which passed 25-3 with six abstentions, was significant because it was backed by all six major world powers, including Russia and China. Both of those countries have been reluctant to go along with Western efforts to sanction Iran for its nuclear program, although it is still unclear if Friday's vote signaled that Russia and China would support further punitive measures.

The only three nations to vote against the resolution were Cuba, Venezuela and Malaysia.

Iran's chief delegate to the atomic agency, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, told the meeting that the resolution would not change Iran's plans, according to media reports.

"Neither resolutions of the board of governors nor those of the United Nations Security Council, neither sanctions nor the threat of military attacks, can interrupt peaceful nuclear activities in Iran, even a second," he said in remarks made available to reporters.

On Thursday, agency head Mohamed ElBaradei told a meeting of the IAEA's 35-nation board of governors that the agency's investigation into Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program is at "a dead end" due to Iran's lack of cooperation.

ElBaradei will step down as head of the agency on Monday.

Iran last week rejected a plan brokered by the Vienna-based agency, under which Iran would relinquish the bulk of the uranium it had enriched to low levels, sending it to Russia and then France for further enrichment; it would then be returned to Iran. The deal had been endorsed by six world powers, including the United States.

In a counter-offer, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said in a news conference Tuesday that Tehran would send its low-enriched uranium abroad for further enrichment if it received 20 percent pure uranium processed abroad at the same time as a guarantee, according to reports.

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