The United States is preparing a draft resolution condemning Iran ahead of next week’s meeting of the UN nuclear watchdog’s Board of Governors, a step that could complicate wider talks between the US and Iran, Reuters reports citing diplomats.
With a quarterly meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) 35-nation board taking place next week, Washington is preparing a text, though it has yet to circulate it and details are therefore unclear, diplomats accredited to the IAEA say.
Iran has bristled at previous resolutions the board has passed against it, often retaliating by escalating its nuclear activities or scaling back cooperation with the agency. A more imminent concern this time is the talks with the US.
“I believe it may antagonise the Iranian side,” Russia’s ambassador to the IAEA, Mikhail Ulyanov, tells reporters. “As far as I know, they are going to call upon Iran to provide access to the agency’s personnel to nuclear facilities on the territory of Iran.”
He adds that he does not believe the US will actually submit the draft.
The US mission to the IAEA has declined to comment.
