IAEA Drops Iran Sanctions Resolution

A03990246.jpgTEHRAN (FNA)- A push by Western nations for a resolution against Iran at a UN atomic watchdog meeting has been dropped amid objections from Russia, China and developing countries, diplomats said Tuesday.

Just a day after the UN Security Council slapped a third set of sanctions on Iran, European countries drafted a resolution which they wanted to put to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s board of governors in Vienna.

But the text was finally ditched after its opponents – notably the Russians, the Chinese and the Non-Aligned Movement – argued it was superfluous following the UN Security Council decision.

Cuban Ambassador Norma Goicochea Estenoz told reporters that the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), a bloc of nations of which she is chair, was opposed to such a resolution.

“We don’t think that there is any need for a draft resolution. In our opinion, it would damage the environment of cooperation and confidence-building between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the agency,” she said.

Estenoz, however, said that non-aligned countries had not been consulted about any resolution.

For the NAM, it was more important “to give more support to the IAEA’s Director General (Mohammed ElBaradei) and to Iran in the implementation of the work plan,” the ambassador said.

“We are really committed to that endeavor and we do believe that this period of cooperation and confidence building … has to prevail.”

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