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U.N. Security Council moves closer to agreement on Iran action+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)NEW YORK, March 17_(Kyodo) _ The U.N. Security Council met behind closed doors Friday in a formal session aimed at breaking the deadlock on Iran's nuclear program, with China and Russia showing reluctance to impose a two-week deadline for Iran to halt its nuclear-fuel enrichment activities. A main point of contention among council members is a call for International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei to report to the Security Council within 14 days on whether Iran has demonstrated IAEA compliance. The number is written in brackets, which means that it is to be negotiated by the principal members of the council. The issue of timeframe, as well as the possibility of sanctions, is a contentious one with China and Russia, who both support a more central role for the IAEA on the matter, as well as continuing diplomatic activity to deal with the matter. Chinese Ambassador Wang Guangya told reporters after the council meeting that China and Russia want the deadline extended "at least four to six weeks." "My major concern is still there. It's the 14 days with brackets, and I believe this draft is mainly to reinforce the IAEA role. So I think we have to stick to that point, and also remove those that are unnecessary with this purpose," Chinese Ambassador Wang said. Britain and France, the co-authors of a draft before the Security Council, signaled "flexibility" with the timing for Iran to comply with the IAEA. "About the time frame, there is some flexibility on our part, but the sooner we can adopt the text, the more we are flexible," French Ambassador Jean Marc de la Sabliere said. U.S. Ambassador John Bolton indicated a U.S. preference for the 14-day timeframe and said he did not believe it would extend beyond 30 days. "The urgency of sending a clear and strong signal is certainly very much on our minds, conscious as we are that the Iranian centrifuges are spinning with uranium hexaflouride in them. That is a very serious matter," he said. Wang downplayed those concerns, saying "we cannot take action based on suspicion. Therefore, I think IAEA has to continue to work, to clear all these suspicions, to clear all these outstanding issues," he said. Senior foreign ministry officials from the five permanent members of the Security Council -- China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States -- Germany will meet Monday in New York in what was been described by U.N. diplomats as a "strategic" meeting to consider the next step of activities by IAEA. Iran insists its nuclear program is only aimed at peaceful energy generation, but the United States accuses Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons. A special IAEA board meeting decided last month to report Iran to the Security Council because of its failure to comply with its obligations under an IAEA safeguards accord. |