EU forbidden to take actions over Iran's nuclear program

The European Union has backed away from a direct push to refer Iran to the UN Security Council and is now only implicitly threatening Tehran with such action.

A draft resolution, drawn up for the current board meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency, says only that taking action against Iran over its nuclear program is "within the competence of the UN Security Council." A previous draft had called for the reporting of Tehran to the U.N.'s top decision-making body, Xinhua reports.

Mohammad Prehdi Akhunzadeh, Iranian Ambassador to the IAEA, says that there was "no consensus" on referring Iran to the Security Council.

"The main question here was whether to refer Iran to the UN Security Council. There is no consensus whatsoever to that effect and I believe that that is a message that if there is to be a solution then it should be through consensus."

He added that Iran would continue to cooperate with the IAEA, and had invited IAEA chief Mohamed El-Baradei to Tehran for talks with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his new government.

While not directly asking for Security Council referral, the text finds Iran in non-compliance of commitments to the IAEA that would normally warrant such action.

The draft is formally a European Union initiative but is being drawn in close consultation with Washington, and backed by Australia, Japan, Canada and others.

On photo: EU members anв Iranian ambassador.