By Mark Heinrich and Karin Strohecker
Vienna - The United Nations nuclear watchdog's board of governors on Thursday indefinitely blocked Iran's bid for technical aid for a reactor project over concerns it could be secretly used to yield bomb-grade plutonium.
But diplomats said the ruling, which the International Atomic Energy Agency's board adopted by consensus after days of haggling between industrialised and developing nations, left a theoretical possibility of revisiting Iran's request in future.
In a compromise hammered out in negotiations ahead of the board meeting, Iranian requests for IAEA technical assistance on seven other nuclear energy projects judged not to pose a risk of being diverted to bomb-making were approved by the board.
Continues Below ↓
"The decision is that the (Arak) project will be definitely put on hold," IAEA director Mohamed ElBaradei told reporters. "If confidence in the nature of Iran's programme were to be restored, the board might consider to revisit the decision."
Tehran says its nuclear agenda, anchored on enrichment of uranium, is limited to generating electricity or, in the case of the Arak reactor project, radio-isotopes for medical ends.
The United States and European allies suspect the Islamic Republic's nuclear programme is a cover for building a bomb, and have drafted UN sanctions against Tehran.
Iran sought on-site IAEA safety advice at the Arak complex under construction. It said the IAEA had a duty to ensure all nations' nuclear programmes were safe, but vowed to complete the reactor by 2009 whether granted IAEA expertise or not.
"Asking for safety expertise on Arak is like a burglar digging a tunnel under a street to rob a bank and asking for help to ensure the street surface won't be undermined," a European Union diplomat said.
The one-day, year-end session of the 35-nation IAEA board in Vienna also debated a report by ElBaradei describing Iran's evasions of agency investigations dating to 2003.
|
StumbleUpon
Reddit
Digg
Delicious
Newsvine
Facebook
muti
Twitter
