14 April 2006
Rice Says Iran Issue Tests International Community's Credibility
Adds U.N. Security Council will have to respond to Iranian defiance
By David Shelby
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington – The U.N. Security Council’s handling of the Iranian nuclear issue will be a test of the international community’s credibility, according to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
“[T]his is going to be an issue of credibility for the international community. If the U.N. Security Council says, ‘You must do these things and we'll assess in 30 days,’ and Iran has not only not done those things, but has taken steps that are exactly the opposite of those that are demanded, then the Security Council is going to have to act,” she told an interviewer April 13.
Less than two weeks after the council issued a unanimous presidential statement calling on Iran to suspend its nuclear research, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad announced that Iran had successfully enriched a small quantity of uranium. Enriched uranium can be used to fuel nuclear power plants or atomic bombs. (See related article.)
Rice dismissed Iran’s declaration that it is only interested in enriching uranium for use in civil nuclear power facilities. The secretary said the international community must remain focused on the potential military applications of this technology.
“[T]he world community does not want them to have that nuclear know-how and that's why nobody wants them to be able to enrich and reprocess on their territory, getting to the place that they can produce what we call a full-scale nuclear plant to be able to do this,” she said.
Rice reiterated that President Bush has not taken any option off the table, including a military response, if Iran fails to comply with the demands of the international community.
“The Iranians need to know that the president has options,” she said. But she added, “I wanted people to know that we are committed to a diplomatic course. And particularly, if the international community can speak with one voice and speak strongly … it's going to get the Iranians' attention.”
She suggested that the next step for the Security Council when it reconvenes to discuss the issue April 28 could be to issue a Chapter 7 resolution.
“Now, what that means is that there are enforcement actions. For instance, you could have freezes of assets, political isolation, you could have a number of means to make it very difficult for the Iranians to continue this policy unless they're prepared to face real isolation,” she said.
During the interview, the secretary also spoke about her impressions from her recent trip to Iraq. “I find so encouraging what the Iraqis are doing in terms of their political system and its development, in terms of maturity of their security forces, in terms of their ability to work together on difficult problems,” she said.
She acknowledged that Iraq is experiencing a difficult period, saying, “[A]ny big historical change is always tough and violent.” But she said the alternative of leaving Iraq in the hands of Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi is unacceptable.
The transcript of Rice’s interview is available on the State Department Web site.
For additional information on U.S. policy, see Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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