Iran Willing To Talk About Nuke Plans

Official: Iran Will Resume Talks With Russia About Uranium Enrichment

(CBS/AP) 
He also said that the vote by the IAEA Board was not the end of diplomatic efforts or the IAEA's involvement. "Instead, it is the beginning of an intensified diplomatic effort to prevent the Iranian regime from developing nuclear weapons. We will continue working with our international partners to achieve that common objective."

In response to the vote, Ahmadinejad ordered the resumption of uranium enrichment and an end to snap inspections of its facilities.

"As of Sunday, the voluntary implementation of the additional protocol and other cooperation beyond the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty has to be suspended under the law," Ahmadinejad said in a letter addressed to Vice President Gholamreza Aghazadeh, who also is head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.

The Russian government had proposed that Iran shift its plan for large-scale enrichment of uranium to Russian territory to allay world suspicions that Iran might use the process to develop a nuclear bomb.

Uranium enriched to a low degree is used as fuel for nuclear reactors. But highly enriched uranium is suitable for making atomic bombs.

Any further action by the Security Council was weeks if not months away, with two permanent council members, Russia and China, agreeing to referral only on condition that no council action be taken until at least March.

The European resolution calling for referral was backed by 27 nations at the meeting.

Only three nations, Cuba, Syria and Venezuela, voted against. Five others, Algeria, Belarus, Indonesia, Libya and South Africa, abstained.

Among those backing referral was India, a nation with great weight in the developing world whose stance on referral was unclear until the vote.

"When the U.N. takes up the Iran issue in March, the Security Council has several options," said CBS News Foreign Affairs Analyst Pamela Falk from the U.N., "it can mandate targeted or broad economic or political sanctions, or it can authorize military force, but anything more than a warning is likely to be vetoed by Russia and China. "

During a speech in Germany Saturday, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld urged the world to work for a "diplomatic solution" to halt the nuclear program of Iran, a nation he called the "leading state sponsor of terrorism."

Iran has insisted it wants to enrich uranium only to make nuclear fuel.
However, after Tehran took IAEA seals off enrichment equipment Jan. 10 and declared it would resume small-scale activities, it inflamed fears that it had other intentions for the technology and triggered the chain of events that led to Saturday's Security Council referral.

The resolution requests IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei to "report to the Security Council" steps Iran needs to take to dispel suspicions about its nuclear ambitions.

The resolution calls on Iran to re-establish the freeze on uranium enrichment; consider stopping construction of a heavy-water reactor that could be the source of plutonium; formally ratify an agreement allowing the IAEA greater inspecting authority; and give the nuclear watchdog more power in its investigation of Iran's nuclear program.

The draft also asks ElBaradei to "convey to the Security Council" his report to the next board session in March along with any resolution that meeting might approve.

Chief British IAEA delegate Peter Jenkins urged Iran to heed the resolution before March. "Should Iran fail to comply, it will fall to the Security Council to bring additional pressure to bear," he said.

His American counterpart, Gregory L. Schulte, indirectly acknowledged that the Security Council's hands were tied until at least March, saying, "We're not talking about sanctions at this stage."