The United States ‘failed’ to get the UN atomic energy watchdog to refer Iran’s nuclear programme to the UN Security Council, Iran’s deputy chief nuclear negotiator said, according to Iranian state media Sunday. “The aim of the United States was to send the Iranian issue to the Security Council…. Thanks to the efforts of the Islamic Republic on the international stage, the American intention failed,” Ali Bagheri said.
His comment was the first high-level reaction in Iran to a Friday vote by the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency to pass a resolution condemning Iran’s nuclear activities following a recent IAEA report strongly suggesting they involved research for atomic weapons. The resolution – worded to pass muster with Iran’s allies Russia and China – notably stopped short of sending the matter to the UN Security Council. Instead, it said it was “essential for Iran and the Agency to intensify their dialogue” and called on Tehran “to comply fully and without delay with its obligations under relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council.”
