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World Powers Agree To Send Iran To Security Council

31 January 2006 -- The five permanent veto-holding members of the United Nations Security Council have agreed that Iran should be reported to the Security Council over its nuclear program.

The foreign ministers of the five countries -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia, and China -- along with diplomats from Germany and the European Union made the recommendation in a joint statement issued early today after talks in London.

The statement urged that the governing board of the UN's nuclear watchdog agency transfer the Iranian nuclear file to the Security Council at a meeting opening on 2 February.

The statement said, however, that the Security Council should wait until March to debate the Iranian case, following the release of a new report on Iran's nuclear activities by the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency.

At the Security Council, Iran could face sanctions or other punitive action.

Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful energy generation and rejects western allegations it is secretly trying to develop atomic weapons.

(compiled from agency reports)

Copyright (c) 2006. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org