22 February 2007
United States Discussing Next Steps on Iranian Nuclear Program
International Atomic Energy Agency reports Tehran defies U.N. deadline
United Nations -- A report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) makes clear that Iran still has not complied with U.N. Security Council demands to stop enriching uranium, and efforts are under way to develop an international response, U.S. officials say.
The written confidential report by IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei to the 35-nation IAEA board of directors in Vienna, Austria, and the 15-nation Security Council February 22 said that Iran has not met the council's 60-day deadline to freeze enrichment activities or face additional sanctions.
"Iran has not suspended its enrichment-related activities," the report said.
ElBaradei reported that Iran has installed two cascades of 164 centrifuges at its Natanz enrichment plant and another two cascades are close to completion. Iran has told the IAEA that it intends to have 18 cascades brought into operation by May.
The IAEA director-general also reported that Iran is continuing to build both a reactor that will use heavy water and a heavy-water production plant, activities that the Security Council also demanded be suspended in its December 2006 resolution. (See related article.)
Ambassador and Alternate United States Representative in the United Nations for Special Political Affairs Jackie Sanders said that the United States will be discussing the report with other council members to "see what further measures should be taken."
Speaking with reporters soon after receiving the report, Sanders said, "It's clear that [the Iranians] have ignored the last resolution. It would be obvious, to us at least, that we do need to ratchet up the pressure" on Tehran.
"Iran needs to see an international community that stays coordinated and showing common purpose to stop what they're doing," said Sanders.
MISSED OPPORTUNITY FOR IRANIAN PEOPLE
In Washington, State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey called the IAEA report "unfortunate" in that it presents "a pretty clear picture ... that Iran has not changed its behavior, has not changed its views, and is continuing on the path of defiance."
"It would be far better for the Iranian people, as well as for the international community, to be able to have Iran engage with the permanent members of the Security Council and Germany in negotiations," Casey said.
"This is a real missed opportunity -- another missed opportunity -- on the part of the government of Iran to not only engage with the international community, but to really do the right thing by its people," he said.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with the German and Russian foreign ministers and European Union (EU) Secretary-General Javier Solana before leaving Berlin February 22, and discussions are beginning in capitals and at the United Nations on the next steps, the spokesman said.
Security Council President Peter Buran of Slovakia said that no date had been set for a formal meeting on the report. The IAEA board of directors is scheduled to meet in Vienna on March 5.
In Berlin, Rice said that the United States is considering seeking another U.N. resolution, but no decision has been made. The United States remains hopeful, she said, that Iran will take up the EU offer to negotiate and accept the package of economic incentives offered in June 2006.
"The point of Security Council action has always been to try to get to a negotiating track," the secretary said. "The idea is not that somehow the sanctions will ... produce the desired result. We would like to do that in negotiations."
"The hope is that the sanctions show the Iranians the isolation that they are enduring, that isolation is likely to increase over time and that it's time to take a different course," she said.
"The Iranian regime often talks about its right to a civil nuclear program," Rice said. "In fact, the United States has supported the idea that the Russians have of a consortium ... so the notion that we would deny Iran a civil nuclear program is just not true."
Expressing "deep concern," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that the issue "has great implications for peace and stability, as well as for the nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction."
"I urge again that the Iranian government fully comply with the Security Council as soon as possible in arranging continued negotiation with the international community so that we will be able to address and peacefully resolve this issue," Ban said.
For more information on U.S. policies, see Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.
(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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