Global Policy Forum

UN Deadline on Iran's Nuclear Program Passes

Print

By Graham Bowley and Brian Knowlton

International Herald Tribune
February 21, 2007

Unbowed by international pressure, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed Wednesday to press ahead with Iran's uranium enrichment program, even as a United Nations deadline to shut down the program passed. Ahmadinejad said Iranians had a right to pursue nuclear technology and would "continue our work to reach our right in the shortest possible time," the Iranian Students' News Agency reported. "Obtaining this technology is very important for our country's development and honor," he was quoted as saying in Siahkal, Iran. Iran's breach of the deadline is unlikely to lead to swift UN action because of a sense that the limited sanctions already imposed on Iran by the Security Council are working. Western diplomats in New York and Washington indicated Wednesday that Iran's stance on the issue had become less truculent and more flexible.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, an arm of the United Nations based in Vienna, is expected to release a report this week detailing Iran's compliance with the UN demands. The report is likely to highlight the steps that Iran has taken to master important aspects of nuclear technology. The report may intensify the debate among Western governments about whether to impose tougher sanctions on Iran for defying the deadline. It could also deepen the debate within the Bush administration over whether and when to take military action against Iran.

The American-led efforts to build pressure on Iran gained a prominent backer Wednesday when India announced that it had banned the export of anything that could assist the Iranian nuclear program. The Indian government said it would prohibit the "direct or indirect export and import of all items, materials, equipment, goods and technology which could contribute to Iran's enrichment-related, reprocessing or heavy water related activities," The Associated Press reported from New Delhi.

Though Ahmadinejad took a hard line in his remarks Wednesday, he has also said in recent days that Iran was prepared to negotiate on the issue. He offered to shut down Iran's uranium enrichment if Western countries did the same - a proposal that the Bush administration dismissed out of hand. But American officials said they still hoped that talks with Tehran could resume. In Britain, Prime Minister Tony Blair warned that Iran risked deeper isolation by continuing its nuclear activities, which he said "cannot be for civilian purposes."

 

< Prev   Next >
 

FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Global Policy Forum distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.