21 March 2006
U.N. Security Council Moving Toward Agreement on Iran
Statement will be clear, unified message on nuclear program, State's Burns says
By Judy Aita
Washington File United Nations Correspondent
New York -- The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council are "on the road to agreement" on a presidential statement against Iran's nuclear enrichment program, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs R. Nicholas Burns said March 20.
Emerging from a meeting with senior government officials of the five permanent council members and Germany, Burns said that group is "unified because we all want to achieve a presidential statement that will invite the Iranians to suspend their nuclear program, return to negotiations, and to put themselves in compliance with the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] board of governors."
"As so often in diplomacy, we now search for the words to reflect that unity -- which I think we will be able to do," Burns said.
"The United States very much prizes the unity that has been achieved over the last six months where Russia and China and the U.S. and the European countries have all acted together to pressure Iran and to try to convince Iran to give up its search for its nuclear weapons capability," Burns said.
The meeting had two separate components, the under secretary said. One was to discuss the text of the presidential statement being prepared in the U.N. Security Council. The other was to consider longer-range issues.
THE ROAD AHEAD
The 15-nation U.N. Security Council was scheduled to hold a closed-door session on the proposed presidential statement March 21, but neither Burns nor other diplomats at the meeting gave any indication when the council would be ready to adopt a statement at a formal public session. They said that meetings would continue at U.N. headquarters in New York, in Vienna, Austria, and elsewhere.
"We remain convinced we will achieve a presidential statement," the under secretary said. "It may take a little bit of time, but it is going to be worth the time because when we do achieve that statement it will be yet another clear, unified message by the international community that Iran has to heed the words of both the IAEA and the U.N. Security Council."
Burns said that the five permanent members -- China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States -- which hold veto power in the council, agree on four main points:
· Opposition to Iran's efforts to acquire a nuclear weapons capability;
· Acknowledgement of Iran’s noncompliance with its international commitments;
· Recognition that Iran now is traveling down a road towards enrichment and reprocessing that fundamentally will be detrimental to the interest of the world of nonproliferation and of peace and security; and
· Agreement on staying united to send one message to convince the Iranians to roll back their nuclear program, suspend all their nuclear activities and return to full negotiations.
"The elements of the agreement are there," Burns said. "We all agree the Iranians have gone too far, that they should not have a nuclear weapons capability, that they should stand down on their nuclear programs."
He gave no indication on whether the group was able to find common ground on two unresolved issues. One involves how long to give the IAEA to work with Iran before reporting back to the Security Council. The other is over which body -- the Security Council or the IAEA -- will oversee the issue.
However, Burns did say that while the IAEA always will have a responsibility to inspect Iran and bring it into compliance, Iran's nuclear program "has clearly moved also to the Security Council."
"It is in both places. It is not going to leave the Security Council," he said.
For further information, see Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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