Who sits on the IAEA board?
The 137 member states elect 35 of their number to serve for a 12 month period. The board is, however, subject to international pressures and diplomacy. The US, Israel and the European trio of France, Britain and Germany all believe Iran has ambitions to build a bomb, but the differences between them are over how they think it should be stopped. The US favours sanctions, while the Europeans have been following a policy of “constructive engagement” with Tehran, attempting to persuade it to accept a negotiated end to its programme. However, the Europeans appear to be losing patience after almost a year of talks, and are moving closer to the US position. What would Iran want? The European aim is for Iran to end its work on taking control of the fuel cycle – therefore importing civilian-standard uranium – but the early signals from Tehran are that the theocratic regime is unwilling to comply unconditionally. It may seek major concessions from the west in return, including a trade agreement
