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IAEA Board of Governors' emergency meeting begins

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Vienna, Feb 2, IRNA
Iran-Vienna-Meeting
The 35-member Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) started its emergency meeting behind closed doors here on Thursday to discuss Iran's nuclear case.

The two-day emergency meeting of the IAEA was requested by the European troika (Britain, France and Germany) to consider a British-drafted resolution urging referral of Iran's nuclear dossier to the UN Security Council.

Non-Aligned Movement members in the IAEA's governing board (Cuba, South Africa and Malaysia) are to put forward in the meeting a statement in support of Iran.

The five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- US, Russia, China, France and the UK-- and Germany agreed at a meeting early Tuesday that the IAEA's emergency meeting should refer Iran to the UNSC for its nuclear programs.

Reacting to the agreement of the 5+1 meeting, Larijani said on Wednesday, "We will consider any referral or reporting of Iran to the Security Council over its nuclear case as the end of diplomacy." He told reporters after his meeting with the visiting Omani Foreign Minister Yousuf Bin Alawi, "This would not be positive at all for the European countries and the Board of Governors of the agency,"
Iran has repeatedly announced that it would implement a Majlis November 20, 2005 approval to stop implementation of the additional protocol and halt all its voluntary suspensions if its nuclear case is reported or referred to the UN Security Council.

"We do not like this and believe that the stronger Iran's ties with the Agency, the better it will be," Larijani said.

Referral of Iran's case to the UN Security Council in whatever form will serve to reduce cooperation between Iran and the IAEA, he added.

Larijani elsewhere told domestic and foreign reporters that the IAEA Board of Governors should avoid being influenced by the decision made by the 5+1 group.

These bodies should be able to act and study the case
independently and professionally, he added.

1394/2321/1414