Protracted negotiations again held up the completion on Wednesday of a draft resolution on how the UN Security Council demands that Iran halt its uranium enrichment, diplomats said. Ambassadors from the major powers had expressed hope on Tuesday that a text of a resolution would be ready to distribute to all 15 nations on the UN Security Council on Wednesday. But a text that was referred back to the British, Chinese, French, German, Russian and US governments by the ambassadors had still not been fully agreed by late Wednesday, diplomats said.
Many of the ministers involved were at a meeting in Rome on Wednesday on the Lebanon crisis. They have set a new target of Thursday for agreeing a draft, the diplomats said. Ministers from the six powers decided earlier this month to send the Iran nuclear dossier back to the Security Council after Tehran failed to respond to a package of Western security and economic incentives in exchange for suspending its enrichment activities, which many Western capitals believe hides efforts to develop a nuclear bomb. |