Iran Focus
Bushs statement came as the 35-nation board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency adopted a resolution reporting Tehran to the United Nations Security Council for breaching its international obligations in its nuclear activities.
The path chosen by Iran’s new leaders — threats, concealment, and breaking international agreements and IAEA seals — will not succeed and will not be tolerated by the international community, Bush said.
The U.S. president described the IAEA board resolution as an important step which he said sent a clear message to the regime in Iran that the world will not permit the Iranian regime to gain nuclear weapons.
We expect the Security Council to add its weight to the IAEA board’s calls for the Iranian regime to: return to the Paris Agreement suspending all enrichment and reprocessing activity; cooperate fully with the IAEA; and return to negotiations with the EU-3 of Great Britain, France, and Germany. Those steps are necessary for the regime to begin to restore any confidence that it is not seeking nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian program.
Bush said that Tehrans continued defiance only further isolated Iran from the rest of the world and undermines the Iranian people’s aspirations for a better life.
He went on to say to the people of Iran that the resolution was not about denying them the benefits of civilian nuclear power. The international community’s sole purpose in this vote is to prevent the acquisition of nuclear weapons by the regime.
