Nov 14, 5:58 AM EST
VIENNA, Austria (AP) -- The Bush administration, frustrated by U.N. Security Council inaction on sanctions against Iran, is pressing a new agenda - trying to deny Tehran U.N. aid for a plutonium-producing reactor that could be used to make nuclear warheads.
Diplomats from nations on the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency say the U.S. is lobbying hard for denial of Iran's request for help on its Arak research reactor, where Iran says it wants to produce radio isotopes for diagnosing and treating cancer.
The American effort appears to be winning support. Seven diplomats, who demanded anonymity in exchange for discussing confidential information, told The Associated Press separately Tuesday that they believed that the 35 member nations of the Vienna-based U.N. nuclear watchdog would deny Iran's request when the IAEA meets next week.
But even a total denial of technical aid for Arak, while symbolically important, is expected to do little to slow the eventual completion of the reactor, let alone Iran's nuclear program. When finished - probably early in the next decade - Arak could produce enough plutonium for about two bombs a year.
Washington's new push appears to reflect U.S. recognition that the Security Council is hamstrung by East-West differences on how to sanction Tehran for its refusal to slow its nuclear program.
IAEA experts say that there is no legal reason to deny Iran the aid at Arak - one of 12 projects Iran has submitted for possible technical assistance but the only one the Americans are trying to block.
That IAEA finding may result in a compromise being floated by the majority of European Union nations, that the organization should defer a decision on IAEA aid for Arak, instead of rejecting it.
The U.S. mission refused to comment on whether that would be acceptable to Washington. But several diplomats familiar with the American stance said the U.S. might accept a freeze instead of an outright ban on Arak aid to build consensus.
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Producing plutonium would give Iran a second possible path to a nuclear weapon; most international efforts have focused on Tehran's efforts to enrich uranium, which also can be used in a warhead.
Tehran's chief delegate to the IAEA said Iran only opted for a research reactor using heavy-water technology, which produces plutonium waste, after being denied the ability to buy both light-water reactors, and the enriched uranium that powers them, from overseas. It is far harder to use light-water reactors in a military program.
Ali Ashgar Soltanieh told the AP that Iran needs the IAEA technical aid to build environmental safeguards for the reactor at Arak, a city in central Iran. But that argument appears to have gained little traction.
"There is general agreement that at a time that the Security Council is focused on a possible attempt by Iran to make nuclear arms, the country should not be given a hand with a project that could be used for such a goal," said a senior diplomat.
Along with discussing hundreds of aid requests from member nations, the Nov. 20 board meeting also will hear a report - to be circulated internally to the 35 board member nations Tuesday - from IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei on his agency's attempts to investigate Tehran's nuclear activities.
U.N officials told the AP that the report focuses on Iran's defiance of a Security Council demand for a halt to uranium enrichment, and generally reflects Iran's attempts to obstruct the agency's investigative efforts.
It was also to reveal further details of laboratory testing of enriched uranium samples, one of the officials said, without providing details. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in exchange for discussing the confidential report.
Critics argue that Iran's existing research reactor in Tehran - which uses light-water technology - is more than adequate for the Islamic republic's stated needs of producing cancer-fighting isotopes.
Soltanieh denied that, telling the AP that after three decades of operation that reactor's "lifetime is almost over."
"We have to substitute it for another research reactor," he said.
The IAEA board referred Iran to the Security Council in February, suggesting that Tehran had breached the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and might be trying to make nuclear weapons.
The five permanent Security Council members agreed to move toward sanctions after Tehran ignored an Aug. 31 council deadline to stop uranium enrichment activities.
Russia - backed by China - opposes tough action advocated by the United States, Britain and France. Russian amendments to a Western draft resolution floated last week seek to reduce sanctions to a minimum, deleting language that would have choked off Iran's access to foreign missile technology and most nuclear procurements.
Iran rejected a six-nation package of incentives that would have given it Western-produced light-water reactors for freezing both construction of Arak and its attempts to expand its enrichment program.