The extraordinary meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors, which opened here on Thursday, held here a debate on the Iran nuclear issue for the whole day, reaching no consensus on the issue.

The debate focused on whether or not to adopt a draft resolution,tabled Wednesday by France, Germany and Britain, urging to report the Iran nuclear issue to the UN Security Council.

The draft resolution asks Iran to take various confidence building steps on its peaceful nature of nuclear program.

The steps include: to "re-establish full and suspension of all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities," including research and development; to "reconsider the construction of a research reactor moderated by heavy water."

The draft resolution requests the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to "report to" the UN Security Council these steps required of Iran.

Speaking to the meeting, the U.S. representative accused Iran of ignoring or defying "all" eighth resolution on Iran adopted by the IAEA Board of Governors, calling on the meeting to adopt the draft resolution tabled by the EU-3.

"It is time to send a clear and unequivocal message to the Iranian regime about the concerns of the international community by reporting this issue to the Security Council," the diplomat said.

The representative said the move is not to "seek sanctions" on Iran or to deprive Iran of its right to nuclear energy for peaceful purpose, but or other punitive measures on Iran", but to support the ongoing efforts of the IAEA "with the weight of the Security Council's authority."

A German representative strongly made the same call on behalf of the European Union (EU) as a whole.

"This is not a dispute between Iran and Europe - this is an issue between Iran and the whole international community represented in this Board," the representative said, adding that " this is not about abandoning diplomatic efforts, - this is about solving a problem within the multilateral system and by peaceful means."

"This is not about the IAEA transferring its responsibility to the Security Council, - this is about the credibility of the NPT ( Non-Proliferation Treaty), the strengthening of the international non-proliferation system and the authority of the IAEA and its decisions," he went on.

"The ball is again in Iran's court," he said, calling on Iran to create the conditions for the resumption of negotiation.

Russian ambassador to the IAEA Grigory Berdennikor told the press that Russia does not object to reporting the Iran nuclear issue to the UN Security Council.

However, the ambassador said Russia would not "ask the UN Security Council to undertake any action" if Iran continues to cooperation with the IAEA.

Chief of the Chinese delegation Wu Hailong also presented China's view on the issue.

"The Chinese side encourages Iran to continue its full cooperation with the Agency (IAEA) so as to increase confidence of the international community in its peaceful nuclear activities," he said.

"Although the process of negotiation has encountered some difficulties, the relevant parties must not give up their diplomatic efforts. So long as there is hope, no matter how slim it might be, we have to work with redoubled or even quadrupled efforts," he said.

He said the Chinese side believes that there is still room for resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue within the framework of the IAEA.

"The Chinese side hopes that Iran will resume suspension of its nuclear fuel R&D activities and resume negotiations with the European side as soon as possible," Wu said.

"We also hope that other relevant parties will maintain calm, restraint and patience, demonstrate flexibility and avoid escalation so as to create necessary atmosphere and condition for resumption of negotiation between E3 and Iran," he said.

IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said at the midday that"there is still a window of opportunity" for the IAEA Board of Governors to explore a solution to the Iran nuclear issue.

The chief of the UN nuclear watchdog urged Iran to take confidence-building measures like resuming suspension of all nuclear R & D activities, and conduct full cooperation with the IAEA.

On Thursday afternoon, Iran, backed up by the Non-aligned Movement countries within the Board, fought back to tell the other side of the coin.

Iranian ambassador to the IAEA A.A. Soltanieh warned that Iran would suspend all voluntary cooperation with the IAEA if the Iran nuclear issue is referred or reported to the UN Security Council.

"If however a historical mistake is made by some member of the Board of Governors in sending the Iran's nuclear issue to the United Nations Security Council, ...... the Government of Islamic Republic of Iran has to implement the law passed almost by consensus, to the effect that it has to suspend all voluntary cooperation with the IAEA," Soltanieh addressed the meeting.

The ambassador said developing nuclear weapon is not Iran's option and it will continue its full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

However, he said that Iran still has "inalienable right" for peaceful uses of nuclear energy, including "nuclear fuel cycle and research and development."

Malaysian ambassador to the IAEA Rajmah Hussain, who spoke on behalf of the NAM, said that it is "premature" for the Board to make a decision on Iran as ElBaradei is still "investigating outstanding issues" of Iran for the March Board meeting.

"NAM strongly believes that diplomacy and dialogue through peaceful means must continue to find a long-term solution to the problem," he said.

The ambassador called on all parties to "exercise patience and restraint", and not to "resort to any action which may escalate into a tense situation and create unnecessary confrontation."

Due to sharp difference among the 35-member Board of Governors, the extraordinary meeting, which was originally arranged only one day, was extended to at least another day.

Vienna-based diplomat told Xinhua that the meeting would adjourn on Friday morning for various parties to conduct more consultations,and the meeting is expected to re-started at 15:00 pm local time (14:00 GMT).

According to the IAEA rules, merely a simple majority is needed when adopting a resolution at the Board of Governors.

However, diplomats said the EU-3 want a unanimous adoption of its draft resolution or at least an overwhelming majority, in a bid to push more pressure on Iran.

Source: Xinhua