OMEN
03-31-2006, 09:09 PM
EFFORTS to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions must include the threat of sanctions if Tehran pursues sensitive uranium enrichment work, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said overnight.
Speaking during a visit to northwest England, Ms Rice said prospects for sanctions "have to be on the agenda" as a follow-up to a UN Security Council statement adopted Wednesday calling on Iran to give up uranium enrichment.
Ms Rice and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw have been pushing for the threat of tough action against Iran if it does not renounce its suspected bid to build a nuclear bomb. But Russia and China oppose coercive measures.
"Where we end up in this process in terms of the potential for sanctions, which I do agree with the foreign secretary have to be on the agenda, will be in part dependent on whether the Iranian regime decides to respond to the just demands of the international system," Ms Rice said.
Ms Rice made her remarks at a foreign policy forum held in Blackburn a day after ministers from the Security Council's five permanent members plus Germany conferred in Berlin but appeared divided on the next stops to take with Iran.
A senior US State Department official, who asked not to be named, said "a number" of the ministers, including Ms Rice, argued for consideration of sanctions at some point."I am not saying there is unanimity about this," the official said. "But what was interesting was that (the) issue was joined for the first time at a P-5 meeting."
The UN Security Council presidential statement in effect gave Iran 30 days to halt its suspect nuclear work but did not elaborate what consequences the Islamic Republic would face if it did not comply.
"We're not putting a timescale on this," Straw told a brief news conference with Ms Rice at an arts centre in nearby Liverpool.
"There is, I think, an understanding among certain of us Europeans and the United States that ... we have to consider the issue of sanctions if the Iranians don't start to bring themselves back into compliance."
She refused to rule out the use of force against Iran, despite a refusal by China and Russia to entertain any notion of military action against their ally and major trading partner.
"The American president (George W. Bush) never takes any option off the table," she said, adding: "We also recognise that that is not what is on the agenda now. We are in a process that we believe can work diplomatically."
News.au
Speaking during a visit to northwest England, Ms Rice said prospects for sanctions "have to be on the agenda" as a follow-up to a UN Security Council statement adopted Wednesday calling on Iran to give up uranium enrichment.
Ms Rice and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw have been pushing for the threat of tough action against Iran if it does not renounce its suspected bid to build a nuclear bomb. But Russia and China oppose coercive measures.
"Where we end up in this process in terms of the potential for sanctions, which I do agree with the foreign secretary have to be on the agenda, will be in part dependent on whether the Iranian regime decides to respond to the just demands of the international system," Ms Rice said.
Ms Rice made her remarks at a foreign policy forum held in Blackburn a day after ministers from the Security Council's five permanent members plus Germany conferred in Berlin but appeared divided on the next stops to take with Iran.
A senior US State Department official, who asked not to be named, said "a number" of the ministers, including Ms Rice, argued for consideration of sanctions at some point."I am not saying there is unanimity about this," the official said. "But what was interesting was that (the) issue was joined for the first time at a P-5 meeting."
The UN Security Council presidential statement in effect gave Iran 30 days to halt its suspect nuclear work but did not elaborate what consequences the Islamic Republic would face if it did not comply.
"We're not putting a timescale on this," Straw told a brief news conference with Ms Rice at an arts centre in nearby Liverpool.
"There is, I think, an understanding among certain of us Europeans and the United States that ... we have to consider the issue of sanctions if the Iranians don't start to bring themselves back into compliance."
She refused to rule out the use of force against Iran, despite a refusal by China and Russia to entertain any notion of military action against their ally and major trading partner.
"The American president (George W. Bush) never takes any option off the table," she said, adding: "We also recognise that that is not what is on the agenda now. We are in a process that we believe can work diplomatically."
News.au