IAEA's Resolution Warns, Patience with Iran Is Running Out

A senior U.S. official said, Iran will send a clear message that Tehran will face consequences if it fails to engage with major powers on the nuclear issue.

Photo: IAEA's Resolution Warns, Patience with Iran Is Running Out

"We hope that the board of governors resolution reinforces the message that, you know, we're committed to putting together a package of consequences if we don't find a willing partner. We hope Iran takes note of that clear message," the official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

The International Atomic Energy Agency's board of governors voted 25-3 to censure Iran in a motion that gained rare backing from Russia and China, which have in the past blocked attempts to isolate Iran, a trade partner for both.

The U.S. envoy to the IAEA, Ambassador Glynn Davies, said in Vienna on Friday that international patience with Iran was running out and that "round after round" of fruitless talks could not continue, Reuters reports.

It was also reported, US President Barack Obama has indicated that he will assess the Iranian position by the end of the year.

If he goes for more sanctions, he will try to get Russia and China on board. If he cannot, he will act with fellow negotiators Britain, France and Germany, plus, he hopes, the whole EU and other players.

Only two things could stop such moves. The first is Iranian compliance with the security demands for it to stop uranium enrichment.

This opportunity should be seized and it would be highly regrettable if it was missed.

That will not happen, according to Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He has been consistent on this so it is realistic to believe him.

The other is an agreement on a proposal to take Iran's stockpile of low-enriched uranium (LEU) and send it to Russia and France for conversion into fuel rods for use in Iran's small research reactor in Tehran, which produces isotopes for cancer treatment, BBC News reports.

Meanwhile, the resolution passed by the IAEA Board of Governors during a meeting Friday in Vienna also required Iran to stop construction on the newly-disclosed Fordo uranium enrichment facility near the central Iranian city of Qom.

The move was the IAEA's first adoption of a resolution against Iran after one adopted in February 2006. The 35-member Board of Governors of IAEA passed the resolution with 25 yes votes, 3 votes by Cuba, Venezuela and Malaysia against, six abstentions and one absence, Xinhua reports.