(Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State) - The U.N. Security Council should impose sanctions on Iran as part of ongoing diplomacy aimed at convincing the government in Tehran to halt its uranium enrichment activities, a senior U.S. envoy told the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on September 13, reports Trend.
Iran's current course is a deep concern to us all, and the time has come for the [U.N.] Security Council to back international diplomacy with international sanctions, Ambassador Gregory L. Schulte said in a statement to the IAEA Board of Governors. Schulte is the U.S. ambassador to international organizations including the IAEA -- in Vienna, Austria.
Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the IAEA, on September 11 presented his latest report to the IAEA's Board of Governors and provided documentation that Iran continues to develop nuclear material that could be used in weapons. The Iranian government has insisted it has the right to pursue a peaceful nuclear program for energy purposes, but many other nations have expressed concern that Iran is not cooperating with international bodies that regulate nuclear programs.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said September 12 that the Iranian nuclear program would be discussed on the sidelines of the upcoming U.N. General Assembly in New York by the foreign ministers of the six countries that have led international diplomacy with Iran. The time is coming very soon when we're going to have to vote on a Security Council resolution, she told reporters.
The six nations China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States have offered a package of incentives designed to allow Iran to pursue peaceful nuclear energy programs.
Sanctions will not signal an end to diplomacy, Schulte said in his statement to the IAEA. Rather, they would be an essential element of diplomacy to signal to the leaders of Iran that their continued defiance of the international community will not be tolerated.
Diplomats said that Iran, during September 9-10 meetings with European negotiators in Vienna, tentatively offered to suspend uranium enrichment for two months in an effort to resume negotiations with the international community. On September 14, Iran's envoy to the IAEA, Ali-Ashghar Soltanieh, said he is ready to publicly debate Iran's nuclear activities with his U.S. counterpart, Schulte.
In the U.S. statement, Schulte said the latest IAEA report provides extensive details on Iran's pattern of failing to disclose its nuclear activities to the international community.
We are convinced that Iran is aggressively pursuing technology, material, and know-how to build nuclear weapons, Schulte said.
As of April 2006, Iran had already produced approximately 120 tons of uranium hexafluoride, he said. It is undertaking a new conversion campaign involving 160 tons of uranium ore. The two campaigns will produce sufficient uranium hexafluoride, if successfully enriched, to produce enough highly enriched uranium for approximately 40 nuclear weapons.
The United State does not want to prevent Iran from developing a peaceful nuclear energy program, he said, but Iran's pursuit of nuclear energy must be in conformity with Iran's commitments and international obligations.
The full text of Schulte's prepared statement is available on the Web site of the U.S. Mission to International Organizations in Vienna.
In August, Schulte conducted a State Department webchat in Farsi to discuss the Iranian nuclear issue.
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