Iran rebuked

In a rare move within the 35-nation board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, China and Russia joined forces with Britain, France, Germany and the United States to adopt a resolution which rebukes Iran for building a uranium enrichment plant in secret.

Only Venezuela, Malaysia and Cuba voted against it, alongside six nations which abstained.

World powers have long suspected Iran of trying to assemble a nuclear bomb, a claim denied by Tehran, which says its nuclear goals - such as power generation - are peaceful.

In September Iran revealed the presence of the Fordow enrichment site, near its holy city of Qom and hidden inside a mountain bunker, alarming IAEA inspectors. Diplomats said Iran admitted to the existence of the site only after it had already been detected by Western spy services.

Tensions have risen recently as Iran has retreated from an IAEA-brokered draft deal to provide it with fuel for a medical nuclear reactor if Iran agrees to hand over potentially fissile enriched material.

IAEA demands

Friday's IAEA resolution calls on Iran to confirm that it has no more hidden atomic facilities or clandestine plans and urges it to document the original purpose of the Fordow facility. It is the first formal IAEA resolution passed against Iran in nearly four years.

The United States' envoy to the IAEA, Glyn Davies, said Friday's resolution signaled that patience with Iran was running out.

"We can't have round after round of fruitless negotiations," he said.

In Washington, the White House released a statement on Friday saying Iran would be responsible for its own isolation and the "consequences" if it does not meet its obligations.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said Tehran must fully reveal its nuclear program. He said he still hoped that Iran would accept the "outstretched hand" of dialogue, but that "time is pressing."

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, at a Commonwealth summit in Trinidad, said major powers would have to pursue harsher sanctions if Iran ignored the IAEA vote.

Israel, considered the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear power, welcomed the IAEA censure of Iran, calling for heavy international sanctions should Iran defy the resolution.

"The passing of the resolution with a large majority shows that the international community reached the conclusion that Iran's nuclear program is becoming a significant and urgent threat to world peace," Israel's foreign ministry said.

Russia's foreign ministry urged Iran to "ensure full cooperation with the (IAEA) agency."

Ignored

Iranian Ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh, said Friday's resolution "jeopardized" cooperation with the IAEA.

"The great nation of Iran will never bow to pressure and intimidation vis-a-vis its inalienable right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy," he said.

The IAEA, whose long-serving Egyptian chief Mohamed ElBaradei retired on Friday, is expected to forward the resolution to the UN Security Council. ElBaradei is to be replaced by former Japanese diplomat Yukiya Amano as director general.

At Friday's Vienna meeting, IAEA governors also approved a Russian plan for a multilateral uranium fuel supply bank to stem the spread of nuclear arms.

The program, passed by a 23-8 margin, would allow major uranium producer Russia to provide from the bank low-enriched uranium to countries seeking to establish civilian nuclear programs if they can show a perfect non-proliferation record.

ipj/afp/Reuters/dpa/ap

Editor: Kyle James