Rice insists on referring Iran to Security Council

Iran Focus: London, Jan. 19 – United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday that it was high time to refer Iran to the United Nations Security Council for breaching its international obligations regarding its suspected nuclear weapons program. Iran Focus

London, Jan. 19 – United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday that it was high time to refer Iran to the United Nations Security Council for breaching its international obligations regarding its suspected nuclear weapons program.

Prior to a meeting with South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon in Washington D.C., Rice told reporters “On Iran, we’ve been very clear that we believe that the time has come for a referral of Iran to the Security Council”.

The Secretary of State said that Tehran had been given every opportunity to satisfy the international community that it was not seeking to acquire nuclear weapons. “They have not taken those opportunities”.

Rice’s position was backed by the South Korean Foreign Minister, who said, “The Korean Government is also very much concerned about the Iranian Government’s decision to restart development and research activities to enrich uranium”.

Ki-Moon said that he had expressed his “deep concern” over Tehran’s nuclear activities to Iran’s deputy Foreign Minister during a meeting several days ago.

The South Korean minister said that Seoul would support the referral of Tehran’s nuclear file to Security Council.