Curatains up for new round of warning

Under the new resolution, IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei would file a report to the UN Security Council within 90 days on whether Iran has established full and sustained suspension of all uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities.

If Tehran is found to have complied with UN requirements, the Security Council would lift the sanctions. Otherwise, Iran would face "further appropriate measures under Article 41 of Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations," which means more resolutions prescribing even harsher sanctions.

Statements made by Iranian leaders in recent days show no signs that Tehran will budge; neither is Washington letting up its pressure on Tehran. The United States has recently come up with intelligence alleging that Iran conducted "weaponization studies." Tehran says the information was concocted.

On the same day that the UN Security Council voted on the new resolution, ElBaradei told the opening of an IAEA meeting of its board of governors that Iran needs to clear up such allegations.

"I urge Iran to be as active and as cooperative as possible in working with the agency to clarify this matter of serious concern," ElBaradei said.

However, just before the 15-member Security Council voted on Resolution 1803, Deputy Head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization Mohammad Saeedi warned that "any irrational, illogical and unjudicial behavior will not only fail to solve Iran's nuclear issue but will also make related equations further complicated and tougher."

At the United Nations, Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee, anticipating adoption of a new sanctions resolution, described the Security Council's decision as "unjust and irrational".

It appears that curtains are already up for a fresh round of wrangling and haggling over the Iranian nuclear issue, analysts say.

(Xinhua News Agency March 5, 2008)