LONDON
\nThe US has warned the UK against condemning Iran\u2019s nuclear program at a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency next week, the Daily Telegraph reported.
\nAmid simmering tensions in the Middle East and a US presidential election in November, Washington is reportedly seeking to avoid a regional escalation.
\nAt an IAEA board of governors\u2019 meeting next week, the UK and France are expected to deliver a censuring resolution against Iran over its nuclear program.
\nBut the US is said to have warned other countries to abstain from the resolution, which was drafted over growing frustration with Tehran\u2019s defiance of the IAEA.
\nOfficials in the US have denied lobbying against the British and French move.
\nAs well as electoral concerns, the White House also fears that Iran may be prone to instability following last month\u2019s exchange of strikes with Israel, and the death of the country\u2019s president and foreign minister in a helicopter crash.
\nUK officials believe that Iran\u2019s nuclear program is as advanced as ever and are \u201cdeeply concerned\u201d about escalation, the Daily Telegraph reported.
\nFrom June 3-7, the 35-member IAEA board of governors will gather for a quarterly meeting.
\nIran is believed to have been enriching uranium to 60 percent purity for three years, following Washington\u2019s axing of the nuclear deal under former President Donald Trump.
\nTehran has maintained that it seeks to use the uranium for a civil nuclear program. But the IAEA has warned that no country has enriched to 60 percent purity without later developing nuclear weapons.
\nLast week, a senior European diplomat described Iranian nuclear violations as \u201cunprecedented\u201d in comments to Reuters.
\n\u201cThere is no slowing down of its programme and there is no real goodwill by Iran to cooperate with the IAEA,\u201d the diplomat said. \u201cAll our indicators are flashing red.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONDON The US has warned the UK against condemning Iran\u2019s nuclear program at a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency next week, the Daily Telegraph reported. Amid simmering tensions in the Middle East and a US presidential election in November, Washington is reportedly seeking to avoid a regional escalation. At an IAEA board of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-409414","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n