Vienna - The International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) board adopted a resolution Friday, saying Iran had breached UN Security Council orders to halt nuclear activities by secretly building a new nuclear site. The resolution was supported by 25 of the 35 countries on the Board of Governors, diplomats said, with only 3 counties voting against it. The remaining countries abstained or were absent.
By initiating this first IAEA decision on Iran since 2006, the five permanent Security Council members Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, plus Germany, reinforced their position that they are ready to consider new sanctions if Tehran does not come around in the nuclear stand-off.
The resolution said Iran's belated declaration of the new Fordu enrichment plant in September "reduces the level of confidence in the absence of other nuclear facilities ... "
Iran claims it was within its rights to inform the IAEA only in September, at least two years after starting construction. But IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei has said Tehran was obliged to give notice as soon as it decided to build the facility near Qom.
The IAEA board also urged the Islamic Republic to explain the purpose of the underground site.
An official close to the IAEA has said the facility is too small to make fuel for nuclear power reactors, and experts have calculated that it is just the right size to make material for one nuclear weapon per year.
Iran denies it has any plans to make atomic weapons and says this facility is a backup site in case its enrichment plant in Natanz is attacked by Israel.
Before the resolution was passed, Iranian Ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh warned the IAEA not to use threatening language against Tehran. "Resolutions, sanctions and threats have always made the issue more complicated," he told the official ISNA news agency.
