US,
Europe press for action on Iran nuclear program
By
Michael Adler
AFP
VIENNA
Petroleumworld.com
03 09 06
The United States and Europe pressed for UN Security Council
action over Iran's nuclear activities Wednesday, triggering
a sharp retort from Tehran which threatened "harm and pain"
against Washington.
Saying the time had finally come for intervention, the United
States also called for special inspections of Iran's nuclear
program which the West fears is hiding a covert push for the
atom bomb.
But Iran insisted it would carry on with uranium enrichment
and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned that the West would
regret pressuring Iran to give up what he said was its right.
The high-stakes diplomacy came as the watchdog International
Atomic Energy Agency here considered a report by its chief Mohamed
ElBaradei on the nuclear dispute, the last hurdle before it
is sent to the Security Council.
Thomas Seltzer, the Austrian ambassador whose nation holds the
rotating EU presidency, said that if Iran failed to comply with
international demands to stop enrichment, the Security Council
should get involved.
ElBaradei's report, he added, showed that "after three
years of intensive verification the agency is still not in a
position to conclude that there are no undeclared nuclear materials
or activities in Iran."
The report, submitted last week, says Iran has resumed uranium
enrichment activities, although ElBaradei stopped short of indicating
whether he thought it was pursuing a weapons drive.
Enriched uranium provides fuel for nuclear reactors but, in
highly enriched form, the core material for an atom bomb.
Key Iranian allies Russia and China also called at the meeting
in Tehran to halt enrichment.
The IAEA on February 4 reported Iran to the Security Council
but said any punitive measures should be put off for a month
to allow time for diplomacy.
The world body will now meet next week on the dossier, a diplomat
here told AFP.
US ambassador Gregory Schulte cited an item from the report
that Iran had since September made approximately 85 metric tons
of the uranium gas used as the feedstock to make enriched uranium.
Schulte said that stockpile could, "if enriched ... produce
enough material for about 10 nuclear weapons."
Iran does not yet have the enrichment capability to do this,
but insists on its right under international law to enrich uranium
for research purposes.
For the West however, even research is a "red line,"
the United States in particular arguing that once Tehran has
the technology, it could exploit that knowledge for weapons
work.
Schulte said there now should be special inspections of nuclear
facilities in Iran. An official close to the agency said it
"would allow access to sites the IAEA would not normally
go to."
"The time has come for the Security Council to act,"
he added, with a first step being a call for Tehran to cooperate
with the IAEA but possible sanctions as a later stage.
He added: "We believe the Security Council's approach should
be considered and incremental (...) It should emphasize that
Iran will face consequences if it does not meet its obligations."
Javad Vaidi, the Iranian delegation chief in Vienna, said that
"the United States may have the power to cause harm and
pain but it is also susceptible to harm and pain.
"So if the United States wishes to choose that path, let
the ball roll," he added.
But he said Iran would not for now use its key role as an oil
supplier as a weapon in the dispute, although it could review
the situation later.
"We will not use the oil weapon now because we don't want
to confront other countries," he told AFP here on the sidelines
of a meeting of the UN watchdog over suspicions that the program
is hiding a drive for the atom bomb.
"But if the situation changes we will have to review our
politics and adopt our policy," he added.
In Iran, hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed that the
West would "regret" choosing to step up pressure on
the Islamic republic.
The president also vowed the clerical regime will "not
give in" to demands that it limit its nuclear drive.
AFP
03 08 06
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© 2006 AFP. All rights reserved
