U.N. resolution reflects hard stance on Iran

UNITED NATIONS – France introduced a draft resolution to the Security Council on Friday requiring Iran to suspend uranium enrichment by the end of August or face the possibility of sanctions.

The resolution, the product of negotiations among the five permanent Security Council members and Germany on the Tehran regime’s nuclear program, was expected to come up for a vote Monday.

The resolution is part of a long-running effort by the international community to push Iran to give up uranium enrichment. So far, Iran has moved ahead with those activities, slowly but steadily expanding its enrichment capacity, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog.

The United States and its partners believe that Iran wants to perfect uranium-enrichment processes in order to make the highly enriched uranium needed for a bomb. Iran insists that it only wants the technology for peaceful purposes, such as electricity, and plans to enrich uranium only to low levels.

In June, the five permanent members and Germany offered Iran economic incentives and technology, including several light-water reactors, in exchange for the immediate suspension of its uranium enrichment work and complete disclosure of all past nuclear activities. The United States agreed to be part of that deal and hold face-to-face discussions with Tehran along with the other countries.

But Iran put off responding to the offer. At first, its nuclear officials sent signals they were open to the offer; later they described it as vague; and most recently they said they would not respond until late August. From the West’s standpoint, Tehran is out of time.

Under the resolution, Iran must suspend “all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development.” The language would require Iran to shut down factories that manufacture equipment for uranium enrichment as well as halting the enrichment itself.

It asks Mohamed ElBaradei, the director-general of the IAEA, to report on whether Iran has suspended its nuclear activities and complied with IAEA requests for information about its past nuclear-related activities.