In a sprawling office complex on the edge of Vienna stands the headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the world’s nuclear watchdog.<\/p>\n
It has a number of meetings throughout the year, when the 35 nation board of directors get together to discuss the latest reports. It is normally a run-of-the mill affair.<\/p>\n
But the meeting that got under way today is important for two reasons.<\/p>\n
Firstly, for the first time in 19 years, the gathering will discuss “Israel’s nuclear capability”.<\/p>\n
Coming clean?<\/strong><\/p>\n The item has been forced onto the agenda by the 18-nation Arab block, elevating Israel to the same status as Iran and Syria.<\/p>\n Yukiya Amano, the new director general of the IAEA, is already drawing up a report discussing ways to make Israel open up its facilities to international inspection and sign up to the international non-proliferation treaty, which would commit it to disarmament. That should be delivered in September.<\/p>\n Israel, of course, employs a deliberate policy of ambiguity over its nuclear capabilities; never confirming, never denying.<\/p>\n But the decision to have it on the agenda is a set back not just for Israel but also for its supporters.<\/p>\n Iran’s ambassador to the IAEA is Ali Asghar Soltanieh. He emerges from the closed door meeting to tell us: “US, Canada and European Union, they preferred not to discuss Israel’s nuclear capability, but they joined the consensus because they had no other choice.”<\/p>\n A ‘special case’<\/strong><\/p>\n Syria is also on the agenda. Three years ago the Israelis bombed a remote site in the Syrian desert. It was thought it was a North Korean inspired reactor complex. For the last two years Syria has refused IAEA follow-up access, leaving the nuclear watchdog to wonder if there is another covert operation underway.<\/p>\n But it is Iran that will dominate discussions. Amano says it’s a “special case” for his monitoring teams because of suspicions it might be hiding experimental nuclear weapons programmes.<\/p>\n Iran freely admits it has a nuclear programme but insists it is for civilian purposes.<\/p>\n The IAEA report will echo far beyond this meeting. There are those at the United Nations who are marshalling support in the Security Council for a fresh round of sanctions against Tehran. They have now been handed some powerful words to help their campaign and boost their argument.<\/p>\n Israel has been the loudest in highlighting what it sees as the danger of a nuclear-armed Iran.<\/p>\n But if it wants the international community to take stern action against Tehran, there are a growing number of countries who think that is a position it cannot pursue until it finally comes clean about its own nuclear capabilities.<\/p>\n