By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The UN Security Council unanimously approved a statement Wednesday demanding that Iran suspend uranium enrichment, the first time the powerful body has directly urged Tehran to clear up suspicions that it is seeking nuclear weapons.
The statement, which is not legally binding, will ask the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, to report back in 30 days on Iran's compliance with demands to stop enriching uranium, a process that can lead to a nuclear weapon.
Council members approved the document by consensus and without a vote after a flurry of negotiations between the five veto-wielding members of the council. In the end, Britain, France and the United States made several concessions to China and Russia, Iran's allies, who wanted as mild a statement as possible.
Still, they said the statement expresses the international community's shared conviction that Iran must comply with the governing board of the IAEA and comply with the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.