Iran Threatens U.S. With 'Harm and Pain'
Iran Threatens U.S. With 'Harm and Pain'
Published: 3/8/06, 7:46 AM EDT
VIENNA, Austria (AP) - Iran threatened the United States with "harm and pain" Wednesday for its role in hauling Tehran before the U.N. Security Council over its disputed nuclear program.
"The United States has the power to cause harm and pain," Iran said a statement meant for delivery at the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation board meeting in Vienna on Iran's refusal to freeze uranium enrichment.
"But the United States is also susceptible to harm and pain. So if that is the path that the U.S. wishes to choose, let the ball roll."
In statements for the same meeting, the United States and its European allies said Iran's intransigence over its nuclear program has left the world no choice but to ask for the U.N. Security Council to take action against the Islamic regime.
"The time has now come for the Security Council to act," Gregory Schulte, the U.S. delegate to the IAEA, told board members. "Iran has still not come clean."
Schulte listed Iran's decision to curtail IAEA inspections, its expanding uranium enrichment program and worrying conclusions by IAEA inspectors that suggest at least past interest in nuclear arms as contributing to "mounting international concerns" about Tehran's nuclear intentions.
The IAEA meeting is in effect the last step before the Security Council begins to consider Iran's nuclear plans, which could lead to possible sanctions. Iran's president said earlier Wednesday that his country will not back down from plans to enrich uranium domestically.
Iran's statement against the United States was unusually harsh, reflecting Tehran's frustration at failing to deflect the threat of Security Council action against it in the coming weeks.
It attacked the "warmongers in Washington" for what it said was an unjust accusation that Tehran's nuclear intentions were mainly for military use. And it suggested the United States was vulnerable, despite its strength.
"Surely we are not naive about the United States' ... intention to flex muscles," said the statement. "But we also see the bone fractures underneath."
It also threatened broader retaliation, without being specific, saying Iran "will adapt our policy and adjust our approach to conform with the new exigencies."
France, Germany and Britain, which spearheaded the Feb. 4 IAEA resolution clearing the path for Security Council action, warned that what is known about Iran's enrichment program could represent only "the tip of the iceberg."
"We believe that the time has ... come for the U.N. Security Council to reinforce the authority" of the IAEA and its board, said a draft statement by the three European countries.
Austria, which holds the EU presidency, expressed regret at Iran's decisions to withhold "voluntary cooperation" from IAEA inspectors and resume uranium enrichment, which can be part of a process to make nuclear weapons.
The Austrian comments were made in a statement prepared for delivery on behalf of the European Union and nearly a dozen nonmember European nations.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad remained defiant: "Our nation has made its decision to fully use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and all have to give in to this decision made by the Iranian nation," he said in Iran. "We have made our choice."
His comments - and U.S. and Russian statements the day before rejecting any compromise that would allow Tehran to enrich uranium domestically - set the stage for Security Council action once the IAEA board meeting hears a report on the latest investigations into Iran's nuclear program and debates the issue.
A senior Western diplomat familiar with the Security Council negotiations said Tuesday that permanent council members Britain and France already were preparing a statement "urging" Iran to re-impose a freeze on all enrichment.
The diplomat, who requested anonymity in exchange for discussing strategy on Iran, said the statement also would call on Iran to fully cooperate with IAEA inspectors trying to establish whether the country had ever tried to make such weapons - all requests made earlier by the board.
Still, stronger action may elude the council. Russia and China, which have Security Council vetoes, may use them to foil any resolution in that chamber that would meaningfully increase pressure on Iran, their political and economic ally.
Russia has been at the forefront of the Iranian nuclear talks over the past few months with a proposal to host Iran's uranium enrichment program. The United States and the European Union back the idea, but Iran has demanded the right to conduct small-scale uranium enrichment at home.
credit BellSouth
