VIENNA, March 21: The United States may propose a tough UN resolution opening the door to punitive action against Iran’s nuclear ambitions, if efforts for a softer statement remain stalled, diplomats said on Tuesday. “This would up the ante right away,” a Western diplomat said, with the West hoping for China and Russia to express their reservations by abstaining from such a resolution rather than vetoing it.

The UN Security Council on Tuesday resumed talks in New York on a Franco-British statement urging Iran to suspend uranium enrichment as demanded by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The meeting comes after top officials from the five permanent council members plus Germany failed to agree on Monday on a strategy to coax Iran to guarantee it will forgo nuclear weapons.

“The meeting in New York was not a good one,” a senior European diplomat said in Vienna.

The IAEA had reported Iran to the Security Council last month over fears Tehran may be secretly developing nuclear weapons, despite Iran’s insistence that its atomic program is a peaceful effort to generate electricity.

The council is trying to agree by consensus on a non-binding statement urging Iran to comply with IAEA demands to suspend sensitive nuclear fuel work and cooperate fully with IAEA inspectors.

The way forward is not clear, however, as China and Russia want to avoid punitive Security Council action and to return the issue to the IAEA, which verifies compliance with the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), but does not have enforcement powers.

If the council fails to come up with a non-binding statement as a first step, Washington may push for a vote on a resolution that would require Tehran under the UN Charter’s Chapter 7 to heed the IAEA calls, diplomats said.

They said such a resolution might pass with China and Russia, which both have veto powers on the Council, abstaining.

Chapter 7 can mandate compliance ‘with provisional measures’ in taking ‘action with respect to threats to peace’, according to the Charter.

Such a resolution ‘even with abstentions, would still be a strong step in New York’, non-proliferation analyst Mark Fitzpatrick said.

“It would set a new legal framework,” for pressure on Iran, Mr Fitzpatrick said.

It would also be a major development since Iran is counting on China and Russia to veto such a move, he added.—AFP