AFP: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown reiterated Tuesday that London will support a new UN resolution against Iran if Tehran does not curb its nuclear programme.
LONDON, Sept 4, 2007 (AFP) – British Prime Minister Gordon Brown reiterated Tuesday that London will support a new UN resolution against Iran if Tehran does not curb its nuclear programme.
Speaking two days after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran had achieved a key target in its atomic drive, Brown said there was evidence that international pressure was working.
“It is still my belief that the process we have started…which could of course lead to a third UN resolution…is the right process,” he told his monthly press conference in London.
“There is evidence that it has been working in the flow of information to the energy authorities. We will continue to work for that process to be major means by which we prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons.”
And he added: “We should focus on how the process can continue to move forward, but if necessary we will support a third UN resolution on this matter.”
The United States accuses Tehran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons — an allegation vehemently denied by the Islamic republic — and has never ruled out taking military action against it.
Iran agreed a timetable with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) last month to answer outstanding questions over its atomic drive, in a move that is expected to stave off the threat of sanctions for several months.
Iran warned on Sunday it would “reconsider” its cooperation with the UN atomic agency if the Security Council imposes a third set of sanctions over its contested nuclear programme.
Also Sunday, President Ahmadinejad said Iran had achieved a key target in its atomic drive by operating more than 3,000 uranium-enriching centrifuges in defiance of world powers.
In a German magazine interview Monday, the head of the IAEA warned that Tehran is facing its “last chance” to resolve its nuclear dispute by the end of the year.
Washington has never ruled out taking military action against Tehran, and its tone has sharpened again over the past week with President George W. Bush, warning that Iran’s atomic programme could lead to a “nuclear holocaust.”
