Iran Focus: London, Apr. 12 The United States said that Irans commencing of uranium enrichment was another step by Tehran in defiance of the international community. Iran Focus
London, Apr. 12 The United States said that Irans commencing of uranium enrichment was another step by Tehran in defiance of the international community.
While I’m not in the position to confirm for you the technical details of what the Iranians may or may not have done, what I can say is that this is another step by the Iranian regime in defiance of the international community, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said on Tuesday.
Once again, they have chosen the pathway of defiance as opposed to the pathway of cooperation, he said.
The international community is united in its conviction that Iran cannot be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon, that Iran cannot be allowed to possess the technology or the know-how to develop a nuclear weapon. One of the critical pathways to development of a nuclear weapon is the ability to enrich uranium to high levels, McCormack added.
Radical Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared on Tuesday that Iran had officially joined the group of countries with nuclear capabilities commonly known as the Nuclear Club.
I officially announce that Iran has joined the worlds nuclear countries, Ahmadinejad said in a speech that was broadcast on state television.
Earlier, Irans nuclear chief announced that Tehran had recently managed to enrich uranium to the level required to make nuclear fuel.
We successfully enriched uranium to 3.5 percent on April 9, Gholamreza Aghazadeh, who heads Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, said.
McCormack said that there was a possibility that the international community would impose sanctions on Tehran for refusing to cooperate with the IAEA.
If Iran continues down this pathway of defiance you will see a parallel increase in the pressure on Iran from the international community, he said.
We would call upon the Iranian regime to reconsider the steps that it has taken and to heed the call of the international community, the call of the U.N. Security Council and the IAEA Board of Governors to stop their enrichment activities, suspend them, come back into compliance with its international treaty obligations, come back into compliance with its previous obligations to the EU-3 and to engage the international community in a serious manner on this issue.
Asked why talks between Iran and the United States on the issue of Iraq had been postponed, McCormack said, We did not think it was appropriate that while the process of government formation was ongoing in Iraq, that those discussions between the United States and Iran take place.
Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan told reporters on Tuesday that Irans statement that it had begun to enrich uranium using 164 centrifuges only further underscores why the international community has serious concerns about the regime’s nuclear ambitions.
This is a regime that needs to be building confidence with the international community. Instead, they’re moving in the wrong direction. This is a regime that has a long history of hiding its nuclear activities from the international community, and refusing to comply with its international obligations. Defiant statements and actions only further isolate the regime from the rest of the world, and further isolate the Iranian people, McClellan said.
