European and US diplomats are at loggerheads this morning after late-night talks on a draft UN nuclear resolution that would condemn Iran for its 18-year concealment of research that could be used to make an atom bomb.
France, Britain and Germany spent much of yesterday revising a draft resolution in the hope of satisfying Washington's hard-liners, who want Iran declared in violation of international non-proliferation obligations. A final draft would be put to the UN International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Board of Governors.
Talks between the three European states and other IAEA board members continued late into the night in the hope of tabling a draft on Friday, but one diplomat close to the talks said it was unclear if the text would reach the board soon.
"It's not ready yet," a diplomat from a non-aligned country told Reuters. "I don't know if it will be tabled today."
Another Western diplomat told Reuters the three European powers were managing the drafting process. The United States, which accuses Iran of developing a secret atomic weapons programme, has rejected two drafts so far for being too soft on the Islamic republic.
"There are instructions coming out of London based on talks between the Bush administration and the British," the diplomat said, referring to President Bush's state visit to Britain.
US negotiators have agreed to forego an immediate report on Iran's breaches to the UN Security Council, which could impose economic sanctions, but they still insist that Iran be declared in "non-compliance" with international nuclear obligations.
In a new report on Iran, IAEA chief Mr Mohamed ElBaradei said Tehran had been guilty of numerous breaches of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), including the undeclared production of plutonium and enrichment of uranium.
In his report, Mr ElBaradei said there was no evidence to date of a secret nuclear weapons programme, but the jury was still out on whether Tehran's nuclear aims were wholly peaceful as it insists.