Six world powers that are poised to restart stalled talks with ran sought on Wednesday to agree a unified stance on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear programme, diplomats at the United Nations’ nuclear agency said.
The United States and its Western allies – which have led international pressure on Tehran – initially pursued a resolution by the UN agency’s board of governors to rebuke Iran over what they see as its failure to answer mounting concerns of a disguised bid to develop nuclear arms capability.
That includes Iran’s refusal, during talks in Tehran this year, to grant UN inspectors access to a military site where they say research work relevant for nuclear weapons might have taken place. Western diplomats say they now suspect Iran may be trying to clean up the Parchin site, southeast of Tehran.
But diplomats said Russia and China – which are less keen on tightening sanctions – saw no need for a new resolution so soon after one was passed at the last 35-nation board meeting of the IAEA in November.
Instead, the focus is now on crafting a joint statement to be delivered at the current board meeting, which took the unusual step to adjourn until Thursday to give more time for big power envoys to consult with each other and their capitals.
One senior Western diplomat played down any suggestion of major differences between the four Western states – the United States, France, Britain and Germany – and Russia and China.
It was “nothing that we can’t resolve,” the envoy said. A joint statement would underline the importance of the powers’ upcoming talks with Iran and also urge it to cooperate with IAEA inspectors after two recent rounds of largely fruitless meetings in Tehran, another Western diplomat said.
The Western camp would want to see relatively tough language on Iran to pressure it to cooperate with the IAEA while China and Russia seek a milder statement to help foster a constructive atmosphere for more talks, analysts say.
