US
stays firm in opposition to Iran nuclear enrichment
AP
Photo/Heesoon Yim
Russian
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, gestures during his joint
news conference with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Tuesday,
March 7, 2006 at the State Department in Washington.
By
Jocelyne
Zablit
AFP
WASHINGTON
Petroleumworld.com
03 08 06
The
United States on Tuesday stood firm in its opposition to Iran
being allowed to enrich any uranium as Russia denied it had offered
a new "compromise" to Iran.
"The Iranian regime needs to know that if its stays on its
present course, the international community is prepared to impose
meaningful consequences," Vice President Dick Cheney said
in a speech to a US-Israel lobbying group.
He said the United States was keeping "all options on the
table" in addressing the standoff with Iran over its nuclear
program.
"We join other nations in sending that regime a clear message:
We will not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon," he said.
His comments came as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met
with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and President George
W. Bush to discuss the crisis with Iran and other issues.
Lavrov indicated following his meetings with Rice and Bush that
there was no compromise in sight with Iran and denied reports
that Moscow had submitted a new proposal that would allow Iran
to enrich small quantities of uranium while Russia handles the
main processing tasks for Tehran and then retrieves the nuclear
waste.
He said Moscow was sticking by its original offer that all of
Iran's enrichment activities be conducted on Russian soil and
added that no alternative deal had been offered.
"There is no compromise to the Russian proposal," he
told reporters at a press conference with Rice.
He refused to comment on whether Russia would back sanctions against
Iran if the UN Security Council decided to vote on such a resolution.
Russia has veto power as a permanent member of the Security Council
and it is unclear whether it would use it against Iran, with which
it has strong business and diplomatic ties.
Rice reiterated that the United States remained opposed to any
sort of enrichment activities in Iran, which is suspected of seeking
to develop a nuclear bomb.
"I think the United States has been very clear that enrichment
and reprocessing on Iranian soil is not acceptable because of
the proliferation risk," Rice said.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan also stressed that the United
States would stand firm in its demand that Iran put a stop to
its nuclear program.
"We've made it very clear as have many in the international
community that the regime must suspend all enrichment activities,"
he told reporters.
"It cannot be allowed to pursue enrichment in any capacity
or on any scale that would allow the regime to develop technologies
needed to develop nuclear weapons."
"Our concern is that the (Iranian) regime is developing nuclear
weapons under the cover of a civilian program," McClellan
said.
He added that the United States expects action to be taken by
the UN Security Council once the International Atomic Energey
Agency (IAEA) concludes its review of Iran's nuclear case this
week.
"We believe it's important that the regime be held to account
for its continued defiance of the international community,"
McClellan said.
The Russian minister said it was important, however, to maintain
contact with the Iranian government.
"In our view, any solution should take into account the desirability,
very high desirability, to continue to investigate into the past
programme of Iran so that all the questions which the international
community has could be answered by the experts," he said.
US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld meanwhile made new accusations
that Iranian Revolutionary Guards have been infiltrating into
Iraq.
"They are currently putting people into Iraq to do things
that are harmful to the future of Iraq, and we know it, and it
is something that they will look back on as having been an error
in judgment," he said.
csmonitor.com
03 07 06
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