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US talks tough on Iran, warns China
(AFP)
16 November 2007
WASHINGTON - The United States accused Iran Thursday of 'stringing
along' UN watchdogs investigating its nuclear ambitions and bluntly
warned China not to block new sanctions against the Islamic republic.
US officials talked tough after the UN's International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) said Iran had made 'substantial progress' but still
needed to be more pro-active in shedding light on its atomic program.
One official close to the IAEA said the assessment showed that 'the
glass is half full' with regard to the Iranian case. But White House
spokeswoman Dana Perino said Teheran was guilty of 'selective
cooperation.'
'This report sadly makes clear that Iran seems uninterested in working
with the rest of the world,' she said.
'The United States will work with our partners on the UN Security
Council and Germany as we move towards a third set of Security Council
sanctions,' Perino said.
At the United Nations, US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad accused China of
stalling on sanctions designed to punish Iran's refusal to halt
uranium enrichment.
Enriched uranium can be used to generate nuclear power, but also in a
highly refined form, to make nuclear weapons.
'I don't think China would want to be in a position to cause a failure
of diplomacy to deal with this issue,' Khalilzad told reporters.
'For diplomacy to succeed it needs widely supported, broad and biting
sanctions to affect the calculations of the regime in Iran,' he said.
The United States has never ruled out military action if Iran persists
with its atomic drive, and has stepped up its rhetoric of late to warn
of 'World War III' if Teheran gains the know-how to make nuclear
weapons.
A senior UN official confirmed a claim by Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad that Iran had reached a key target of 3,000 centrifuges
enriching uranium.
Scientists say that number could be sufficient to produce enough
enriched uranium in one year to make a single nuclear bomb.
But Washington has been frustrated at the UN Security Council by the
reluctance of China in particular to intensify two earlier rounds of
global sanctions against the Iranian regime.
'It's in everyone's interest for this world-defining issue to be
resolved diplomatically,' Khalilzad said.
The IAEA, whose chief Mohamed ElBaradei has strongly criticized the US
approach to Iran, said the country had given 'sufficient access' to
its inspectors and had responded 'in a timely manner' to questions.
'However, its cooperation has been reactive rather than pro-active,'
the report added, stressing that Iran's 'active cooperation and full
transparency' were needed to assuage international concerns.
At the White House, Perino zeroed in on what she described as the
report's finding that 'contrary to the decisions of the Security
Council, Iran has not suspended its enrichment-related activities.'
'We believe that Iran should be fully cooperating, and not stringing
along the IAEA during this process,' she said.
'It just pushes Iran further into isolation and we believe that what
they should do is take us up on our offer.'
The United States, Britain, France, and Germany have offered a package
of political and economic incentives, including cooperation on civil
nuclear energy, if Iran freezes enrichment.
Washington and its allies are also awaiting a report from European
Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana on his own contacts with
Iran.
A release date for Solana's report is expected in 'a matter of days,'
said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack, who called the IAEA
evaluation 'troubling.'
But new Iranian chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili said the report
by the UN agency showed that Western claims that the atomic program
has military aims 'are not true.'
Jalili added: 'Whether the report is negative or positive, the
Americans always say the same thing.
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HOOROO
UNCLE WALLY
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