Western powers pressure Iran over nuclear program
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany said on Tuesday the international community must push for a faster response from Iran over its nuclear program, while Washington said a new U.N. report suggested Tehran wanted to acquire nuclear weapons.
France, also reacting to the report on Iran issued on Monday by the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, gave cautious backing to the U.S. position.
The report suggested that there were "signs of a possible military dimension" to Iran's nuclear program, French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Pascale Andreani told a news briefing.
The IAEA report said Iran's alleged research into nuclear warheads remained a matter of serious concern and Tehran should provide more information on its missile-related activities.
The IAEA also said Tehran was holding back information on high-explosives testing relating to its nuclear program.
Iran's envoy to the agency, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, said the report showed Tehran's nuclear program was peaceful.
"Once again it has been explicitly underlined that there has been absolutely no evidence regarding the diversion of Iran's nuclear activities or materials toward military purposes," the semi-official Fars News Agency quoted him as saying.
Iran, the fourth-largest oil exporter, says its nuclear program is aimed solely at generating electricity and rejects Western assertions that it is secretly pursuing nuclear weapons.
The five permanent U.N. Security Council members plus Germany are offering Iran a package of incentives to give up its uranium enrichment, so far without success.
"Here, open questions remain, where we have to push for an answer with more time pressure," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told members of NATO's parliamentary assembly meeting in Berlin, referring to the IAEA report.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said the United States "remains concerned" about Tehran's attitude.
"By failing to cooperate fully and transparently with the IAEA on these matters, we can only conclude it wants to preserve the ability to weaponize," she told reporters aboard Air Force One as President George W. Bush flew to a fundraiser.
"This report apparently demonstrates that Iran has not met its international obligations and continues to violate at least the commitments that it committed to."
SECURITY COUNCIL PRESSURE
Germany's Steinmeier said the ball was in Iran's court. Continued...
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