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Iran threatens full-scale enrichment
(AP)
Updated: 2006-01-24 07:17
In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said "referral absolutely
has to be made" on Feb. 2, while remaining vague on what action the Security
Council would take — and when.
Iran removed IAEA seals from equipment Jan. 10 and announced it would restart
experiments, including what it described as small-scale enrichment — a move that
led the European negotiators to call for the Feb. 2 emergency board session.
The Europeans also began drafting a resolution calling for the Security
Council to press Tehran to re-impose its freeze on enrichment and fully
cooperate with the U.N. agency in its investigation of suspect nuclear
activities — though it stops short of asking for sanctions.
Soltaniyeh, in comments to The Associated Press, warned against referral,
suggesting such a "hasty decision" would backfire.
Whether Iran's suspension of its full-scale enrichment program remains in
effect "depends on the decision of Feb. 2," he said. If the board votes for
referral, he said, Iran would resume efforts to fully develop its nascent
enrichment activities.
Iran insists its nuclear ambitions do not go beyond wanting to generate fuel,
but concerns are growing that its focus is on making nuclear weapons.
An exchange of letters, made available to the AP Monday, reflected
differences over Iran between IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei and the United
States, Britain, France and Australia — other key supporters of referral.
In a letter dated Friday, Gregory L. Schulte, the chief U.S. representative
to the IAEA, asked ElBaradei to prepare a report on the "status of IAEA efforts
to investigate indications of an Iranian nuclear weapons program." Similar
letters from the other countries were dated Thursday and Monday.
In a reply Monday, ElBaradei wrote that a detailed report would only be
available in March, the next scheduled meeting of the IAEA board. Instead,
ElBaradei — who had argued against the special Feb.2 meeting saying he needed
until March to probe Iran's nuclear program — offered an "update brief" for the
Feb. 2 meeting.
Separately, Merkel, speaking at a news conference with President Jacques
Chirac, defended the French leader's threat last week that France might use its
nuclear weapons against state-sponsored terrorism or to thwart an attack
involving weapons of mass destruction — comments that drew criticism from
elsewhere in Europe and from Iran.
"We know that France is a country with nuclear capabilities, capabilities
that exist exclusively for deterrence and, for me, there are no grounds there
for criticism," she said.
Chirac said he had simply delivered a reminder of France's nuclear doctrine.
"The nature of the threat, the defintion of a country's vital interests, and
thus the very nature of the response that might be employed, evolves with time,"
he said.
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