EU, US face uphill battle on Iran at IAEA-diplomats

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=6078721&cKey=1126449322000

BERLIN (Reuters) - A joint EU and U.S. effort to refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council over a suspected nuclear weapons programme is meeting fierce resistance from some members of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), diplomats say.

More than half a dozen countries on the IAEA's 35-nation governing board, which meets on September 19, believe there is no justification for a referral, they said.

"I think unanimity may be impossible," one European diplomat told Reuters. "Pakistan and Brazil have basically given us a definitive 'no'. "Several other countries will also be difficult to convince."

"China and Russia will be difficult," another EU diplomat said, adding that without Beijing and Moscow the plan to ratchet up the pressure on Tehran might fail.

The countries other than Russia and China know after Iran their own nuclear programs will be next.

[Spazito]

1. We know that this is simply another bush admin attempt to

ratchet up crap just like they did with Iraq. This time, people know better and aren't buying it.

[calimary]

2. Fool me once...

The only problem is, if george gets his panties in a bunch about this, he'll merely view it as a green light to "go it alone." We may be no better off with this than we'd be if some other nations actually still felt like giving us the benefit of the doubt. That said, if I were an official or a diplomat from another country, I'd sure have a jaundiced view of any statements or demands or Chicken-Little shit coming out of the US.

[NNN0LHI]

3. But we haven't been able to go it alone in New Orleans? n/t