Russia, China reject call to bring Iran before UN
(New York Times)
Updated: 2006-01-17 15:18

China is particularly reluctant to use the Security Council against Iran, saying last week that such action could harden positions.

But Iran's recent behavior, combined with its history of concealment of its nuclear activities, has eroded confidence in claims that its nuclear activities are intended for peaceful energy purposes.

There is a growing support for the position that Iran's case should come before the Security Council, if only to register condemnation of Tehran.

The United States, which has long been pressing for Iran to be judged by the Security Council, was particularly eager to push forward quickly, before Iran succeeds in dividing the international community.

En route to Liberia on Monday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she wanted the governing countries of the atomic energy agency to meet "as soon as possible," adding that the problem with waiting is that the Iranians will "try to take advantage of it to start to throw chaff now and to obfuscate."

Still, the diplomatic initiative is remarkable in that Britain, France and Germany — the three nations that forged a nuclear agreement with Iran in November 2004 under which it froze most of its nuclear activities — are now in lock step with the United States.

But the United States and the Europeans need time to conduct a global diplomatic offensive to win the maximum support from the atomic energy agency's board, a sort of mega-Security Council that includes countries as diverse as Syria, Libya, Brazil, Venezuela, Malaysia, Canada, Cuba and India, as well as the permanent Council members.