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VIENNA, Sept 9: France, Germany and Britain jointly called on Iran to fully disclose its contested nuclear programme by the end of October, according to a draft resolution submitted to the UN’s nuclear watchdog, here on Tuesday.
The draft at a board of governors’ meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said Iran should “remedy all failures identified by the Agency” in complying with nuclear non-proliferation safeguards and take “all necessary actions by the end of October 2003.”
These include “providing a full declaration of the sources and types of all imported material and components relevant to the enrichment programme, especially imported equipment and components stated to have been contaminated with high enriched uranium particles,” which could be weapons-grade, the resolution said.
It said third countries, which could refer to Pakistan, should “cooperate closely and fully” in determining who supplied Iran with the contaminated uranium.
The resolution said Iran should also allow the IAEA inspectors free access for “environmental sampling” and resolve questions about gas centrifuges which could be used in enriching uranium.
Iran should also sign an additional protocol to allow the IAEA inspectors to make unannounced inspections, the resolution said.
Iran has come under increased pressure, notably from the United States, to come clean on its atomic energy programme amid claims from the Americans that Tehran is trying to develop a nuclear bomb.
LAST CHANCE: Earlier, a senior US official told the UN nuclear watchdog that Iran is in not complying with nuclear safeguards agreements but should still be given a “last chance” to clear up all questions about its atomic programme.
“The United States believes the facts already established would fully justify an immediate finding of non-compliance by Iran” with international non-proliferation accords, Ken Brill, the US ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said.
Mr Brill said the United States had “agreed... to join in the call on Iran to take ‘essential and urgent’ actions to demonstrate” that it is ready to provide necessary information about its nuclear programme.
IAEA Director General Mohammed ElBaradei said the agency’s board was ready to “call on Iran to show full transparency and accelerated cooperation.”
He said Iran should “accelerate its cooperation” in order to “in the next few weeks... clarify all the important issues that are outstanding,” particularly in regard to its uranium enrichment programme.”
As discussions continued, Iran’s ambassador to the IAEA, Ali Akbar Salehi, struck a threatening note by hinting at a withdrawal from the talks.
“We would be obliged to stop all cooperation with the agency (IAEA) if the negotiations (in Vienna) are blocked,” Salehi told Al-Jazeera television, according to a text of the interview made available to AFP.
