Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
צילום: איי אף פי
Atomic Agency report in Vienna: Iran not halting program
International Atomic Energy Agency reports that despite ultimatum imposed on it, Teheran not showing any signs of halting uranium enrichment program
The UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in a report obtained by The Associated Press that Iran shows no signs of freezing enrichment, adding that Tehran started work on a new batch August 24.
The confidential IAEA report will be given to its 35-nation board. That is expected to trigger UN Security Council members — by mid-September — to begin considering economic or political sanctions.
Key European nations will meet with Iran in September in a last-ditch effort to seek a negotiated solution to the standoff over Tehran's refusal to freeze uranium enrichment, a senior UN diplomat said Thursday.
President Bush said "there must be consequences" for Iran, adding that the war between Tehran-backed Hizbullah and Israel demonstrated that "the world now faces a grave threat from the radical regime in Iran."
Ahmadinejad: Iran is united
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a crowd of thousands in the northwestern city of Orumiyeh that "the Iranian nation will not accept for one moment any bullying, invasion and violation of its rights."He also said enemies of the country were trying to stir up differences among the Iranian people, but "I tell them: you are wrong. The Iranian nation is united."
The State Department has not said publicly what type of punishment it might seek. But US and European officials have indicated they might push for travel restrictions on Iranian officials or a ban on sale of dual-use technology to Iran. The hope is to start with relatively low-level punishments in a bid to attract Russian and Chinese support, the officials have said.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi shrugged off the possibility of sanctions, telling state-run television that Iran "will find a way to avoid pressure eventually."
Tehran insists it wants to enrich uranium as fuel solely for civilian nuclear power stations. However, the US and other Western countries suspect it wants to use it in nuclear warheads.
