Iran Crisis, The Crisis is Deepening Options

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The Crisis is Deepening

The crisis triggered off by Iran’s nuclear programme is deepening, shortly before the UN ultimatum demanding Iran halt uranium enrichment expires. On April 28, UN nuclear watchdog head Mohamed ElBaradei will submit his report on Tehran’s nuclear programme before the permanent members of the UN Security Council. However, Tehran remains firm on its stance, defying the warnings issued by the international community. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei added Wednesday insult to injury anew, vowing that US interests worldwide will be struck if Iran is attacked.

"The Iranian nation will respond to any blow with double the intensity," argued Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Earlier, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had stated that his county would not give up on its legitimate and sacrosanct rights.

Only if the international bodies respect Iran’s rights and do not strip us of our rights, will we respect their resolution, the Iranian President has said.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had also stated that Tehran was ready to offer its nuclear know-how to all parties interested. The White House blasted Iran for pursuing the escalation of the crisis, underlining that it is about time the UN Security Council stepped in.


Washington is in favour of adopting a proposal that would increase US sanctions against Iran.

Washington wishes sanctions to be imposed under article 7 of the UN charter, which also foresees military action.

However, China and Russia keep opposing any military action against Iran and opt for a diplomatic solution.

And as tension is running high, Israel is to launch a spying satellite, aiming to record anything happening on Iran’s nuclear plants.

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IAEA's Report on Iran

The international community has been gravely concern over Iran’s nuke programme, which attracted the attention of the informal NATO Foreign Affairs Summit being held in Sofia. The U.N.’s nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei is to deliver Friday the International Atomic Energy Agency’s report, according to which Iran keeps refusing to suspend uranium enrichment, a process that can produce fuel for nuclear warheads but also generate electricity. In the meantime, Iran’s ambassador to the UN Javad Zarif stated that his country will not comply with a possible UN resolution calling on Iran to suspend its nuclear ambitions, for their programme does not pose a threat to the international community. "If the Security Council decides to take decisions that are not within its competence, then Iran does not feel obliged to obey," argued the Iranian ambassador.

The UN Security Council demanded March 29 Iran suspend uranium enrichment, because the West fears this process is part of a clandestine nuclear weapons programme.
U.S. Ambassador John Bolton stated the United States and its allies want the Security Council to adopt a resolution under Charter 7 of the UN Charter, calling for sanctions against any country that would prove defiant.

US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns argued Friday that the USA called for strong UN action against Tehran and went on to forecast that Friday’s report by International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei would be "strongly negative" for Iran.

Javad Zarif, on the other hand, insisted that Iran had to defy a bad resolution particularly since ElBaradei and others had said Tehran’s nuclear program was not an imminent threat.

Should the new resolution be adopted, despite doubts from Russia and China, and Iran defies its demands, Western nations will try to impose sanctions on Tehran, but not military threats, council diplomats said.

Before a resolution could be adopted, senior foreign ministry officials of the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany meet in Paris on May 2. Then their foreign ministers are likely to hold a meeting at the UN headquarters in New York on May 9.

The Iranian ambassador to the UN claimed that several proposals aiming to ease off the crisis were still open to discussion. Among many proposals was one from Russia to enrich uranium for Iran on its territory, which Zarif said was "still alive."

Sources: Reuters