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Iran ignores six powers, UN Security Council demand on enrichment
VIENNA, Austria - Shrugging off the threat of UN sanctions, Iran continued to enrich uranium as recently as on Tuesday, two days before a Security Council deadline to freeze such activity, while ignoring overtures from world powers for a new meeting on its nuclear program, UN and European officials said on Wednesday. The officials, who demanded anonymity because their information was confidential, said Iranian defiance on enrichment -to be detailed in a report from the International Atomic Energy Agency due to be completed Thursday - could act as a trigger for the Security Council, which had set Aug. 31 as the final day for Teheran to freeze such activity.Sanctions do not loom immediately, with permanent council members Russia and China likely to resist US-led efforts for a quick response. In another sign of Irans willingness to confront the international community, a senior European government said Teheran has not responded to a recent European Union offer on behalf of the five Security Council members plus Germany to discuss Teherans terms for new nuclear talks. Such behaviour will likely strengthen Washingtons push to move toward economic sanctions on the Islamic republic sooner than later. Inspectors for the Vienna-based IAEA remained in Iran Wednesday as they continued gathering information that will go into Thursdays restricted report. While their most recent findings were not available by Wednesday afternoon, a senior UN official said that Iranian centrifuges were enriching small quantities of uranium gas as late as Tuesday. Iran insists it has a right to enrich for what it says is a future nuclear power program. There is increasing concern, however, that Teheran could misuse the technology to aim for material enriched to the level required for weapons, to be used as the fissile core of nuclear weapons. The United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany offered Iran a package of technological and political incentives June 1 in exchange for Teherans commitment to freeze enrichment before talks began. Teherans response Aug. 21, which heads of governments and senior diplomats have characterized as an inadequate counteroffer that will be rejected, makes no mention of any willingness to suspend enrichment before talks let alone consider a long-term moratorium on such activity. Still, senior EU foreign policy official Javier Solana has offered to meet with Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani to explore if there is common ground, but up to now Iran has snubbed that overture, said the senior European official. Posted by: Steve 2006-08-30 |
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