04 February 2006
Atomic Energy Board Votes To Report Iran to U.N. Security Council
Bush, Rice welcome action, urge Iran to heed message from world community
The decision of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s board of governors to report Iran to the U.N. Security Council “underscores the concern of the entire international community” about Iran’s nuclear ambitions, according to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
In a February 4 statement, she welcomed the action taken the same day by the board to place the Iran issue in the domain of the Security Council, and called on Iran “to heed the clear message” of the world community. Specifically, the secretary again urged Iran to:
· Suspend its uranium enrichment and processing activities,
· Cooperate fully with the IAEA, and
· Resume diplomatic negotiations.
In a statement released later the same day, President Bush said that the IAEA's action "is not about denying the Iranian people the benefits of civilian nuclear power." He noted that Russia and the EU-3 -- Great Britain, France and Germany -- with the support of the United States, have made the Iranian regime "offers that would enable Iran to have a civil nuclear energy program."
"The international community's sole purpose in this vote is to prevent the acquisition of nuclear weapons by the regime," he said. "Iran's true interests lie in working with the international community to enjoy the benefits of peaceful nuclear energy, not in isolating Iran by continuing to develop the capability to build nuclear weapons."
The 35-nation IAEA board of governors convened a special meeting in Vienna, Austria, at the request of France, Germany and the United Kingdom to discuss the implementation of IAEA safeguards in Iran. (See related article.)
The U.S. statement on Iran, as delivered by Ambassador Schulte’s to the IAEA board of governors is available on the U.S. Mission to International Organization in Vienna Web site.
For additional information on U.S. policy, see Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.
(begin text)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
For Immediate Release
February 4, 2006
2006/149
Statement by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
IAEA Board Resolution on Iran
I welcome today’s action by the International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors to report Iran’s dossier to the United Nations Security Council. The strong majority in favor of the resolution, representing all regions of the world, underscores the concern of the entire international community about Iran’s nuclear program.
We hope the Iranian regime will heed this clear message. The world will not stand by if Iran continues on the path to a nuclear weapons capability. Today’s resolution makes clear the steps Iran’s regime must take. It must suspend enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, cooperate fully with the IAEA, and return to the negotiating process based on the previously agreed terms.
The Iran issue will now be in the domain of the Security Council as well as of the IAEA. We will continue to consult closely with our European allies, Russia, China and many other members of the international community in the coming days and weeks, in this new diplomatic phase.
(end Rice text)
(begin Bush text)
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
(Crawford, Texas)
For Immediate Release
February 4, 2006
STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT
Today in Vienna, the International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors voted to report Iran to the United Nations Security Council. This important step sends a clear message to the regime in Iran that the world will not permit the Iranian regime to gain nuclear weapons.
The Security Council will now address the IAEA Board's finding of "Iran's many failures and breaches of its obligations to comply" with its Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Safeguards Agreement. We expect the Security Council to add its weight to the IAEA Board's calls for the Iranian regime to: return to the Paris Agreement suspending all enrichment and reprocessing activity; cooperate fully with the IAEA; and return to negotiations with the EU-3 of Great Britain, France, and Germany. Those steps are necessary for the regime to begin to restore any confidence that it is not seeking nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian program.
Today's vote by the IAEA Board is not the end of diplomacy or the IAEA's role. Instead, it is the beginning of an intensified diplomatic effort to prevent the Iranian regime from developing nuclear weapons. We will continue working with our international partners to achieve that common objective. The path chosen by Iran's new leaders -- threats, concealment, and breaking international agreements and IAEA seals -- will not succeed and will not be tolerated by the international community. The regime's continued defiance only further isolates Iran from the rest of the world and undermines the Iranian people's aspirations for a better life.
I end with a message to the Iranian people. The action today by the IAEA Board of Governors is not about denying the Iranian people the benefits of civilian nuclear power. The EU-3 and Russia, with the support of the United States, have made the Iranian regime offers that would enable Iran to have a civil nuclear energy program. The international community's sole purpose in this vote is to prevent the acquisition of nuclear weapons by the regime. Iran's true interests lie in working with the international community to enjoy the benefits of peaceful nuclear energy, not in isolating Iran by continuing to develop the capability to build nuclear weapons.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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