VIENNA, Jan 19: The United States has already begun campaigning at the UN atomic watchdog for Iran to be taken to the UN Security Council for measures against its nuclear work ahead of an emergency meeting in February that was confirmed on Wednesday. US Undersecretary of State for arms control Robert Joseph saw delegates to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) ahead of the February 2 meeting of the IAEA’s 35-nation board of governors on Iran, US spokesman Matthew Boland said.

The Vienna-based IAEA confirmed on Wednesday the timing of the meeting, which was requested by Britain, Germany and France.

Boland said Iran’s determination to resume nuclear fuel work showed that Tehran has “chosen confrontation” over “the path of confidence building and negotiation.”

He said: “We need to enter a new phase of diplomacy, a phase that puts even greater diplomatic and political pressure on Iran to take the steps that the international community has called on it to take.”

The Security Council has the power to impose sanctions.

Non-proliferation expert Mark Fitzpatrick told AFP from the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) think-tank in London that “the Europeans and the Americans will be using the two weeks ahead of the IAEA meeting to round up votes” on the agency’s board.

A document obtained by AFP gives a summary of US thinking.

US ambassador to the IAEA Gregory Schulte said: “I ask for your support for this meeting and urge you to vote affirmatively to report Iran to the United Nations Security Council.”

The Council has enforcement authority that includes sanctions but the US summary said: “We believe a gradual escalating approach could prove effective in persuading Iran to change course.”—AFP