In a desperate gesture, the Iranian regime expressed confidence that it would avoid referral to the UN Security Council, but diplomats refuted, saying that the regime is almost certain to be referred to the Security Council when the IAEA’s board of governors meets in Vienna on February 2nd.
The trio decided to call for the special session after meeting in London on Monday with officials from the United States, China and Russia. The United States and the EU on Wednesday rebuffed clerical regime’s call for new talks on their nuclear dispute.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said the Iranian regime had yet to show they were ready for real talks.
"It was the Iranians who walked away from the negotiations, who broke the moratorium (on nuclear activities)," Rice said.
The West has a majority 21 votes on the IAEA board of governors, and mullahs’ allies, Russia and China, are expected to abstain when the Iranian issue comes up.
Good relations with the religious dictatorship in Iran are a high priority for both Russia — whose arms and atomic energy sector have scored big Iranian orders — and China, a major buyer of Iranian oil.