IAEA draft mild enough
INDIA IS likely to vote in favour of the resolution on the Iran nuclear issue if it comes up for voting at the IAEA's emergency meeting on Friday.
Though India is (as is the norm) working for a “consensus” on the issue at the IAEA's board of governors meet in Vienna, New Delhi has instructed its ambassador at the IAEA, Sheel Kant Sharma, to go with the general consensus over the draft resolution.
US state department spokesman Sean McCormack, meanwhile, said in Washington that there was no pressure on New Delhi to vote in favour of the resolution. "We've expressed our hope that they (India) would vote yes… But that is their decision. They're a sovereign country and it is going to be the Indian government's decision on how they vote," he said.
The draft resolution, on which the 35-member board began negotiations on Thursday, is "relatively mild", sources said. It urges Iran to respond "positively to the calls for confidence-building measures" and suspend all enrichment-related and processing activities, while the board continues to "work for a diplomatic solution to the issue".
Though not ‘referring’ the issue to the UNSC, the resolution requests the IAEA director-general to "report to the Security Council that these steps are required of Iran by the board". This permits the IAEA a "degree of flexibility" to still resolve the issue within its purview, provided Iran complies with the international consensus.
{{/usCountry}}Though not ‘referring’ the issue to the UNSC, the resolution requests the IAEA director-general to "report to the Security Council that these steps are required of Iran by the board". This permits the IAEA a "degree of flexibility" to still resolve the issue within its purview, provided Iran complies with the international consensus.
{{/usCountry}}The draft resolution calls on Iran to "understand that the board lacks confidence in its intentions in seeking to develop a fissile-material production capability against the background of Iran's record on safeguards".