TEHRAN -- The U.S. and some European countries are by no means willing the Iranian nuclear dossier to be investigated through a “legal channel”, international expert Davud Hermidas Bavand said here on Saturday.

Political directors from 5+1 group (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) met in London on Friday to discuss new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. However, China and Russia objected calls for a new set of sanctions on Iran.
The 5+1 group would push for a third UN Security Council resolution unless the forthcoming reports from European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana and the head of UN atomic watchdog Mohamed ElBaradei showed ""a positive outcome"".
The political directors will assess the reports at their next meeting on November 19.
Bavand told the Mehr News Agency that Solana and ElBaradei are likely to submit “positive reports” about the nuclear program.
He went on to say that although the 5+1 has failed to reach a consensus on further sanctions against the Islamic Republic, the U.S. is still taking illegal actions against Iran.
The United States is pushing for further sanctions outside the UN Security Council. Under the current situation, the Iranian government should try to reach a mutual understanding with the West, the senior political analyst observed.
Under an August 21 deal, the IAEA and Tehran agreed on a timetable for addressing the remaining ambiguities about Iran’s nuclear activities. IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei has called the agreement “an important step in the right direction.”
The MNA also sought the views of four other experts in this regard.
Uranium enrichment consortium may lessen pressure on Iran
“If the U.S. succeeds to intensify the sanctions against Iran, even through unilateral acts, it is actually bypassing Russia and China,” political analyst and former diplomat Ali Khorram said.
The United States has started a new round of unilateral sanctions against Iran and it is in fact doing what it expects the Security Council do, he added.
Apparently, the 5+1 group predicts that reports by Solana and ElBaradei will not be in Iran’s favor and it will issue the third round of sanctions against Tehran, he said.
Of course, ElBaradei’s report can be considered “almost favorable” to Iran, but that part of Solana’s report that is concerned with suspension of uranium enrichment by Iran would be “negative”, and it can be used as a major reason for the Security Council to introduce further sanctions, Iran’s former envoy to the IAEA noted.
“Of course, there is another option and that is the acceptance of an offer that suggests doing part of the enrichment outside the Iranian soil and in return the West to give up the call for suspension from its agenda,” he stated.
Khorram was referring to an offer by Saudi foreign minister for establishing a consortium to provide enriched uranium for Iran and the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council members and other Middle East countries and a similar one by Russia.
New resolution will not be in Iran’s favor
Hossein Alaee, an expert on international relations, maintains that the permanent members of the Security Council are in agreement to issue a third resolution against Iran but their only conflict is about the content of the resolution.
It is likely that the Security Council would impose further sanctions against Tehran within weeks or months, he said.
The former top general went on to say that even if sanctions would not be harsh the introduction of a new resolution is “not good” for the country.
Cooperation with IAEA will cause more division among powers
However, Jahanbakhsh Izadi, a fellow international expert, argues that the continuation of talks between Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog would inflame discord among major powers.
Tehran’s full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency has prevented the group to reach a consensus on the nuclear issue, Izadi observed.
Political expert Ahmad Bakhshayeshi Ardestani argued the U.S. will be unable to turn the “limited sanctions” into “more serious economic sanctions.”
“The Complexity of the issue and the powerfulness of the Islamic Republic of Iran have stalled a final decision” against the country for its nuclear program, he noted.
The current sanctions do not have any immediate and significant influence on Iran’s policies, so the U.S. will not eventually be able to achieve its objectives within the framework of UN Security Council resolutions, he added.