Under fire for stalling a 130-nation nuclear meeting, Iran on Friday accused the US of being the real culprit, as the conference adjourned for the weekend in deep deadlock over Teheran's opposition to language of the gathering's agenda. With the dispute in its fifth day, several non-Iranian diplomats at the conference said it could be dissolved without progress by Monday unless differences were resolved. At issue is Teheran's refusal to accept a phrase calling for the "need for full compliance with" the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. That position has delayed adoption of the agenda since the conference opened Monday. Teheran argues the language could lead it to become a target at the meeting because of its refusal to heed UN Security Council demands to cease uranium enrichment and other parts of its nuclear program that could be misused to make nuclear weapons. "If I reduce it to a simple sentence, it's this: The Iranians are blocking things," said a senior European diplomat.
But Iran's chief delegate to the meeting said Washington was to blame, accusing it of manipulating the meeting's chairman to work against Teheran. "I'm sure the United States is hiding behind and pushing him," said Ali Ashgar Soltanieh, referring to conference chairman Yukiya Amano of Japan, in comments to reporters outside the meeting.