World powers demand Iran mothball nuclear site

A view of the conference room at the beginning of an Atomic Energy Agency IAEA board of governors meeting in Vienna, November 26, 2009.

VIENNA (Reuters) - Six world powers are demanding Iran immediately mothball a uranium enrichment site it hid for years in a resolution to be voted on by U.N. nuclear agency governors, calling it a message to Tehran to change its ways.

A defiant Iran denounced the resolution, expected to be put to a vote on Friday, as "counterproductive" to diplomatic efforts to defuse a standoff over its nuclear ambitions and accused the powers of "politicizing" the U.N. nuclear watchdog.

Diplomats forecast about two-thirds of the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation governing board would approve the censure of Iran, the first such action in almost four years.

Developing nations in a bloc that includes Iran indicated they would vote "no" to the censure or abstain, they said.

The move reflects dismay over Iran's September disclosure of a second enrichment site it had been secretly building for two years, and frustration at Iran's hold-up of an IAEA-brokered plan to give it fuel for its medical program if it parts with enriched uranium that could be used in nuclear weapons.

The last IAEA board resolution passed against Iran was in February 2006 when governors referred Tehran's case to the U.N. Security Council over its refusal to suspend enrichment and open up completely to IAEA inspections and investigations.

The new measure was sponsored by Britain, France, Germany, the United States, Russia and China in another attempt to break a deadlock with Iran over its shadowy enrichment work, alleged nuclear bomb research and restrictions on IAEA inspections.

Russian and Chinese support was significant since the two have often blocked a tough united front against Iran in global security bodies and avoided direct criticism of Tehran.

Diplomats said China was won over at the last minute by strong Western lobbying.

The Washington Post reported on Wednesday U.S. officials had persuaded Beijing that big power unity to rein in Iran was now indispensable because Israel saw Iran's nuclear drive as an "existential" threat that could lead to a Middle East war, stopping Iranian oil exports crucial to China's booming economy.

But it was far from clear if the emerging Russian-Chinese disenchantment with Iran, a key trade partner for both, would translate into readiness for harsher U.N. sanctions the West will push for early next year if the fuel deal falls through.

"We consider it important that the board in a resolution delivers a united message to Iran and urges it to change course," German Ambassador Ruediger Luedeking told the meeting.

"The clandestine construction of the Fordow enrichment facility is not a minor issue (as Iran maintains). It is a major issue. Iran should build and not reduce confidence," he said.

"This also serves as a reminder...for Iran to seize the existing opportunities to engage in meaningful negotiations with a view to achieving a comprehensive diplomatic solution."

CHINA SEES IAEA BOARD "SIGNAL" TO IRAN

A senior Chinese official said Beijing hoped the IAEA board would "send a signal that Iran should indeed respond to the IAEA proposal as soon as possible."

But He Yafei, a vice foreign minister, told Reuters in Beijing that China's stance on more sanctions remained the same. China, with Russia, has long blocked the imposition of stringent economic sanctions on Iran.

The draft resolution urged Iran to immediately halt construction of the Fordow enrichment plant, clarify its original purpose and confirm it has no more hidden atomic activity or covert plans for any.

Iranian AmbassadorAli Asghar Soltanieh told reporters the resolution would worsen, not improve, Iran's relations with the IAEA and big powers. "Any gesture or move jeopardizing this spirit of ... cooperation in Vienna will be counterproductive."

A November 16 IAEA report said Iran violated a transparency statute by not declaring the Fordow enrichment project inside a mountain bunker as soon as plans were drawn up.

Analysts say Fordow's small capacity is suitable only for making lesser quantities of uranium needed for an atomic bomb and makes no sense except as part of a secret network of sites.

Iran's much larger Natanz enrichment pant is under IAEA monitoring -- but came to agency attention only after Iranian opposition exiles blew the whistle on it seven years ago.

(Additional reporting by Sylvia Westall in Vienna and Chris Buckley in Beijing; Editing by Jon Hemming)