Nuclear standoff near boiling point

IRAN - Iran's confrontation with the West will escalate today when the country will be referred to the UN Security Council for its continued refusal to come clean about its suspected nuclear weapons programme.

The adoption of a resolution by the International Atomic Energy Agency board in Vienna will finally put Iran on the Security Council's agenda - setting out the steps Iran must take to avert possible punitive action by the council.

It will demand that Iran explain why it has documents related to the construction of a nuclear bomb when it claims its intentions are purely peaceful.

Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei urged Iran to comply, saying Iran now had a "window of opportunity" before March 6, when he will make a full report to the board.

However, Iran formally notified the agency that if referral went ahead it would stop co-operating with UN snap inspections and resume nuclear enrichment.

Iran maintains it is within its rights to pursue nuclear energy and denies it is developing a bomb.

The resolution is expected to be passed by a majority of the 35-member board following agreement among the five big powers on the UN Security Council - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - and Germany.

Proponents of the draft hope to collect more supporters, as non-aligned members do not have a unified position. Some developing nations fear that referring Iran to the Security Council could cripple their own nuclear-power options.

The draft resolution, sponsored by the Europeans, calls on Iran to resume a freeze of all enrichment. The Iranians resumed uranium conversion six months ago and last month broke UN seals on its enrichment plant at Natanz, provoking international uproar. The resolution also calls on Iran to reconsider the construction of a 40-megawatt plant at Arak which would have the potential to produce plutonium.

It asks Iran to account for a document on the production of uranium metal hemispheres which "is related to the fabrication of nuclear weapons components".

International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors were given fresh access this week to the document which relates to a 1987 offer to Iran of "off the shelf" nuclear designs and components.

Diplomats in Vienna said scrutiny of the document confirmed the nuclear weapons link.

Iran has said in the past that, although it had been contacted by the Pakistani AQ Khan blackmarket network, it had never pursued an offer of sensitive equipment for building the core of a nuclear bomb.

Western allies insist that no military action is being considered, and US Ambassador Gregory Schulte said: "We are not now seeking sanctions or other punitive measures against Iran."

- INDEPENDENT