VIENNA, Nov 27, (AFP) -The UN nuclear watchdog on Friday passed a resolution condemning Iran for secretly building a uranium enrichment plant and demanded the Islamic republic freeze construction of the facility.
China and Russia joined forces with Britain, France, Germany and the United States to push through a resolution at the International Atomic Energy Agency's board on the second and last day of its traditional November meeting. Western powers have long suspected the Iran, despite its fierce denials, is trying to build a nuclear bomb. But in the past they have struggled to get diplomatic backing from China and Russia.
Twenty-five nations on the 35-member board voted for the censure, which was the first against Iran since February 2006. Only Venezuela, Malaysia and Cuba voted against.
In Tehran, however, the resolution was dismissed as “theatrical and useless.” Iran's ambassador to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, said it created a “confrontational environment”.
Russia and China, which have close links to Iran, came on board following the revelation in September that Iran had been secretly building a second uranium enrichment plant near its clerical capital of Qom. Uranium enrichment is the process used to make fuel for nuclear power plants, but when extended it can also produce fissile material for an atomic bomb.
Moscow said it expected Tehran to “treat with all seriousness the signal contained in the resolution... and ensure full cooperation with the agency.””Our patience and that of the international community is limited, and time is running out,” said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.
“If Iran refuses to meet its obligations, then it will be responsible for its own growing isolation and the consequences.”Iran, which insists its nuclear programme is for peaceful energy purposes, has been enriching uranium at a bigger plant in Natanz for several years, in defiance of UN sanctions to halt all such activity.
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