The 18-clause document came on top of months of propaganda and pressure against Iran led by Washington, and after previous inspections and critical reports by IAEA officials. Its drafting was marked by sharp disagreements back and forth between Washington and its European rivals.

While noting that Iran had suspended its uranium-enrichment program and agreed to IAEA inspections, the resolution criticized it for alleged past failures in disclosing the extent of its program, and called for a “particularly robust system of verification,” or inspections. It also included a so-called trigger clause instructing the IAEA board of governors to “consider all options at its disposal” in the event of “any further Iranian failures.” IAEA director-general Mohamed ElBaradei commented: “The resolution sends an ominous message that failures in the future will not be tolerated.”

The trigger was included at the insistence of U.S. officials. In debates leading up to the adoption of the resolution, they had rejected two earlier drafts supported by their British, French, and German rivals. At each stage Washington argued for sharper language. Until the final compromise U.S. officials had pressed for the inclusion of a threat of sanctions against Iran by the UN Security Council if recommended by the IAEA’s board. Such an outcome is among the “options” held by agency officials.

On the eve of the vote, U.S. secretary of state Colin Powell declared himself “very satisfied” with the outcome.

Kenneth Brill, the U.S. ambassador to the IAEA, said, “There must be a very robust verification. The international community rejects 18 years of Iran’s denial, deceit, and deception.”

An unnamed French representative told the Washington Post that the final resolution is “very near the European logic” and that it focuses on Iran “implementing the agreements it reached with us a few weeks ago.” The diplomat was referring to an October 21 accord in which Berlin, London, and Paris, backed by Moscow, wrenched an agreement from Iran to open its facilities to surprise inspections. Tehran also agreed to suspend its program to enrich uranium.

Giving a sense of the tensions bubbling under these differences, Peter Brookes of the conservative Heritage Foundation wrote in the November 23 New York Post, “With $8 billion a year in trade and a deal pending to up the ante even more, the European Union is Iran’s largest trading partner. And it appears that the EU—led by France, Germany and Britain—may now value those trade privileges over the principle of opposing the proliferation of nuclear weapons.”

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told Reuters that the resolution was “an achievement for Iran and proved that Iran has followed its peaceful nuclear activities with transparency and truthfulness.” He urged the IAEA to allow Iran to “continue its cooperation with the agency seriously,” based on the October 21 agreement with the European powers.  
 
 
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