A plan by the United Nations atomic watchdog, aimed partly at helping to persuade Iran to forsake its nuclear ambitions, is opposed not only by Tehran but a group of countries including Australia, Canada, Japan and Brazil, diplomats say.
They also say even the United States, which accuses Iran of trying to make an atomic bomb under the guise of a civilian nuclear program, has reservations about the proposed five-year moratorium on new nuclear production facilities.Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the Vienna-based UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), proposed the plan last year, hoping a global moratorium would give the world time to patch up loopholes in the nuclear non-proliferation regime.
UN diplomats say the scheme also offered Iran a way of saving face while acceding to a European Union demand that it scrap its uranium enrichment program. Countries like Australia and Canada, which have ample uranium but do not enrich it, have reservations about closing doors on their own future nuclear fuel options, diplomats said. "The idea is that it would be easier for Iran to give up enrichment as part of an international movement," a diplomat involved in EU discussions with Iran on its atomic fuel program told Reuters, on the condition of anonymity.
While the EU supports the moratorium, Iran has some powerful allies against it, including Japan, Argentina, Brazil and Pakistan, diplomats from several IAEA member countries said. "Some countries are worried that the moratorium would eventually become compulsory, especially countries that would be affected by it, they don't want to limit their options for the future," a diplomat close to the IAEA said.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200502/s1309124.htm 
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