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UNITED NATIONS, March 29 (Xinhua) -- After weeks of
haggling, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council finally arrived
at agreement Wednesday on a presidential statement calling on Iran to resume
suspension of all uranium enrichment-related activities.
"Our colleagues in the P-5 (permanent five) have
reached an agreement on a text," British Ambassador to the UN Emyr Jones Parry
told reporters after he and his counterparts from China, Russia, the United
States and France met behind closed doors for nearly two hours.
The 15-nation council discussed and adopted the
statement later Wednesday.
U.S. Ambassador to the UN John Bolton told reporters
that the statement requests Director-General of the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA), Mohamed Elbaradei, to deliver in 30 days a new report to the IAEA
board of governors and the Security Council on Iran's compliance with IAEA
demands.
The five key council members have been wrangling over
how to respond to the crisis over Iran's nuclear plan after the IAEA report the
matter to the council in early March.
The United States claims that Iran's program is
designed to develop nuclear weapons. But Teheran insists that its nuclear
program is aimed at generating electricity and it is entitled to develop
peaceful nuclear technology under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
On Thursday, foreign ministers of the five permanent
council members and their German colleague are due to meet in Berlin to discuss
the international community's future strategy toward Iran's nuclear issue.
A presidential statement needs consensus among the 15
council members while a resolution requires a minimum of nine votes and no veto
from any of the five permanent members. Enditem |