VIENNA — The United Nations' atomic energy agency voted overwhelmingly Saturday to report Iran to the U.N. Security Council for its nuclear program, and Tehran responded by announcing that it would restart efforts to enrich uranium, a procedure that could provide fuel for nuclear weapons as well as power plants.
Hours later, President Bush warned that the international community was committed to stopping Iran from building an atomic bomb.
"The path chosen by Iran's new leaders -- threats, concealment and breaking international agreements and IAEA seals -- will not succeed and will not be tolerated by the international agency," Bush said. "The regime's continued defiance only further isolates Iran from the rest of the world."
Under the resolution approved in Vienna by the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran must meet a series of demands, including the cessation of all uranium enrichment and full disclosure of its previous efforts to obtain nuclear technology. Otherwise it will face censure and possible sanctions by the Security Council.
The rapid-fire developments opened a new chapter in international relations with Iran and the broader Middle East. If Iran does not curb its nuclear ambitions, the region could see a preemptive attack on Iran's nuclear installations or an arms race among neighboring countries.
The international community has time to develop a strategy. Estimates by the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington suggest that Iran could produce enough highly enriched uranium for a bomb within three years of building a centrifuge plant. The U.S. has estimated such a capability would take 10 years.
The resolution was approved with the understanding that the matter will not come before the council until March, leaving Iran time to work out a deal. The one-month window satisfied a Russian demand to give Iran one last chance and was seconded by China, which, like Russia, has major commercial trade with Iran.
Twenty-seven countries on the 35-member board voted to report Iran to the Security Council. Five countries abstained: Libya, South Africa, Indonesia, Algeria and Belarus. Only Venezuela, Cuba and Syria voted against the resolution.
In defiance, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad late Saturday ordered Iran's Atomic Energy Organization to restart uranium enrichment, according to the official Iranian news agency.
The Iranian ambassador to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, denounced the vote to report Iran to the Security Council as "hasty and immature," saying that under a law passed by the Iranian parliament, the country has no choice but to restart enrichment and halt cooperation with the IAEA on snap inspections and voluntary disclosures.
Increasingly, Iran has appeared isolated. Its continuing defiance has unnerved many countries that had given Tehran the benefit of the doubt that its nuclear program was meant strictly for civilian energy purposes.
The measure had the backing of all five permanent Security Council members, as well as two Muslim countries, Egypt and Yemen, that had been reluctant to oppose Iran. They agreed to go along after the European Union and the United States accepted compromise language making it a goal to create a nuclear-free Middle East.
The support of Russia and China appeared firm. Both countries, aware of their power as brokers in the dispute between Iran and the West, took a softer tone than the United States and EU in the wake of Saturday's session. Their support was crucial to the Western authors of the resolution because either could veto any punitive measure before the Security Council.
"A very important aspect of this board meeting is that Russia, China and the European Union stood together in sending this message, and it wasn't just those countries, it was Japan, it was Korea ... it was Brazil, Argentina and India, it was the overwhelming majority of countries standing together and making it clear to the Iranian leadership that the course they are taking is not acceptable," said Gregory Schulte, the U.S. ambassador to U.N. agencies in Vienna. "What we heard from board members was concern over the nature of Iran's nuclear program and the intentions of Iran's leadership."
British Ambassador Peter Jenkins said members of the board became uncomfortable about Iran's open defiance of the international community's request that it halt its nuclear activities. "Board members cannot understand why Iran is so determined" to develop nuclear technology, he said.
Nuclear politics in the Middle East are complex because of vast inequalities in the atomic capabilities of different countries. Israel has never acknowledged having nuclear weapons, but it is widely believed to have a large arsenal. Iran, which views itself as the leading Islamic power in the Middle East, has sharpened its anti-Israeli rhetoric since Ahmadinejad came to power.
