Iran no global consensus against it despite pressure

VIENNA, June 14 (Reuters) Iran today said there was no world consensus pushing it to stop its nuclear fuel work, but major powers hoped a UN nuclear watchdog debate would broaden support for their bid to rein in Tehran with trade offers.

The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) of 114 mainly developing states, one of them Iran, ignored US calls to endorse the June 6 overture by major powers to Tehran to end its quest to master technology that could eventually yield atomic bombs.

But the US envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said many states in NAM had voiced concern about Iranian intentions in talks with him and he expected them to say as much when the IAEA's 35-nation board debated the issue.

Iran's IAEA envoy said Tehran was pleased at NAM's plan to reissue a May 30 statement upholding Iran's right to uranium enrichment despite the major powers' offer of incentives if it halted the programme.

''We really appreciate it. The uninterrupted NAM support for us over these three years (of a standoff with major powers over Iranian enrichment activity) has been very valuable,'' Ali Asghar Soltanieh told reporters outside the meeting room.

''With 114 states behind us, this proves there is no international consensus against us,'' he said.

The United States, Britain, France, Russia and China the UN Security Council permanent members and Germany have given Iran until a Group of 8 industrialised nations summit in mid-July to respond to the package, diplomats say.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told his Italian counterpart by phone today his government was examining the incentives ''with attention and interest'' and said the offer was ''a positive development and a significant change of approach towards Iran''.

He told his Spanish counterpart at a meeting that the offer was ''a step forward in the negotiation process,'' the Spanish government said.

But Mottaki does not set nuclear policy and a more powerful security official, top atomic negotiator Ali Larijani, has been stressing ''problems'' tied to the offer's precondition that Iran mothball all enrichment, which it rules out.

Iran says its atomic drive is meant to generate electricity and cites a sovereign right to civilian nuclear energy.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana told a Brussels news conference he had had ''a constructive conversation'' by telephone with Larijani, but gave no further details.

MISTRUST The West, noting Iran has the world's second largest oil and gas reserves, suspects Tehran is concealing an atom bomb project because it hid enrichment research from the IAEA for almost 20 years and has called for Israel's destruction.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao urged Iran to respond positively to the package so talks could restart.

''Iran is looking at it very seriously,'' Liu told reporters at a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. ''We hope all sides will come up with a positive response, and will adopt a positive, pragmatic and flexible attitude so we can create conditions favourable for the resumption of negotiations.'' In the IAEA debate, diplomats said Britain would issue a statement on behalf of the five other powers reiterating their offer of ''far-reaching'' incentives for Iran to halt enrichment coupled with warnings of sanctions options if it refused.

Despite outward NAM solidarity with Iran, most of the 15 NAM states on the board joined an overwhelming board vote on February 4 to refer Tehran to the Security Council for failing to convince the body that its nuclear work is wholly peaceful.

Gregory Schulte, US ambasssador to the IAEA, told Reuters yesterday he expected NAM states ''with few exceptions'' would urge Iran to ''choose the path of diplomacy, not confrontation''.

''My consultations with other board members make clear that countries from every region and grouping are concerned with Iran's failure to build international confidence,'' he said.

Western officials had hoped NAM would back the big power overture to Tehran to help them deflect Iranian assertions it is being bullied by a few powerful countries bent on denying the Islamic state nuclear energy.

But many in NAM, while urging Iran to cooperate with IAEA nuclear checks, are worried that forcing Iran to abandon its nuclear fuel enrichment plans would set a precedent preventing other developing states from pursuing an atomic energy option.

REUTERS SY BD2054