U.S. seeks RI support over Iran's nuclear program

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailworld.asp?fileid=20061108.K03&irec=2

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The U.S. is seeking support from Indonesia, home to the world's largest Muslim population, to help push Iran to the negotiating table to stop its uranium enrichment program. U.S. Permanent Representative to International Organizations, including the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in Vienna, Ambassador Gregory L. Schulte, said that as officials from Germany and the United Nations Security Council were preparing sanctions against Iran for not abiding by a UN resolution on its nuclear program, support from the international community was essential for the sanctions to be effective.

"We don't know exactly why the leadership in Pyongyang decided to go back to six-party talks, but I think we can speculate that the universal condemnation of their nuclear tests and the swift deduction of the Security Council resolution both played a very important role," he said during a teleconference from his office in Vienna on Tuesday. "So, for Indonesia and countries across the world to call on the Iranian leadership to change course will vastly increase the prospect of success in our common diplomatic endeavor," he said.
North Korea agreed this past week to return to the talks -- which include the two Koreas, Japan, the U.S., China and Russia -- in the first easing of tensions after its Oct. 9 nuclear test. The talks have been stalled for a year over financial restrictions placed on the North by the United States for alleged counterfeiting and money laundering. Schulte said he believed that Indonesia absolutely had a role to play in communicating international concerns about the direction the leadership in Pyongyang has taken. He said that Indonesia could also play a very important role in the Iranian nuclear issue, as Indonesia and the United States shared a common objective of forging a diplomatic solution to the problem. "Indonesia is on the board of governors of the IAEA. Indonesia is a country whose voice is well-respected across the world community and the Non-Aligned Movement. I think Indonesia can play a very important role in helping communicate both publicly and privately to the leadership in Iran that they need to take a different course," Schulte said. Frankly speaking, he added, the leadership in Iran might listen more closely to Indonesia than to the United States on this issue.

Iran has repeatedly rejected a package of incentives offered by six world powers to freeze its uranium enrichment, which can produce fuel for atomic power or material for a nuclear warhead. The United States and its western allies accuse the Islamic republic of seeking to build a nuclear bomb. Iran rejects the claims and says its program is for peaceful purposes only, while insisting on its right to peaceful nuclear technology.
Indonesia and Iran have close relations. Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was warmly welcomed by government officials and ordinary Indonesians when he visited the country earlier this year. The Indonesian government has expressed its support for Iran's peaceful uranium enrichment program, and has called for a diplomatic solution to the dispute. Schulte said the U.S. did not intend to prohibit Iran from having a nuclear power plant, but opposed its enrichment program. "Many countries have a nuclear power plant but don't have uranium enrichment programs," he said.