Bush: World 'united and concerned' about Iran nukes
By News Agencies
President George W. Bush said Friday "the world is united and concerned" about Iran's suspected desire to build nuclear weapons and that he will work with other countries to achieve a diplomatic solution to the crisis.Bush's statement came shortly after the International Atomic Energy Agency said that Tehran had enriched uranium and that it persists with related activities in its nuclear program in defiance of the UN Security Council.
Bush said the IAEA statement was an important statement: "It reminds the nations of the world that there is an ongoing diplomatic effort to convince the Iranians to give up their nuclear weapons ambitions."
He said the world "is united and concerned about their desire to have not only a nuclear weapon but the capacity to make a nuclear weapon or the knowledge to make a nuclear weapon."Bush said he was not discouraged by Iran's vow to continue despite global pressure. "I think the diplomatic options are just beginning," Bush said during an appearance in the Rose Garden.
Earlier Friday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that no Security Council resolution could make Iran give up its nuclear program.
"The Iranian nation won't give a damn about such useless resolutions," Ahmadinejad told thousands of people in Khorramdareh in northwestern Iran.
Asked if Ahmadinejad was a man with whom he could work, Bush said, "It's going to be his choice eventually."
Bush has refused to rule out the possibility of military action against Iran but he emphasized the pursuit of diplomatic efforts. He said there are clear differences between Iran and Iraq, where the United States led an invasion in 2003 to remove Saddam Hussein.
Bush said Iraq had ignored 16 Security Council resolutions to disarm, had used weapons of mass destruction, was a threat to its neighbor and was shooting at U.S. aircraft conducting overflights.
"There's a difference between the two countries," the president said.
"Iran's desire to have a nuclear weapon is dangerous in my judgment," Bush said. He said that diplomacy was his first choice.
At the State Department, spokesman Adam Ereli said if the Security Council does not act "there are other ways to work with states and organizations, to take measures that isolate Iran and that bring to it a cost for its unacceptable behavior."
Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns plans to meet in Paris next Tuesday with counterparts from Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia to plot strategy.
And Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will confer at UN headquarters May 9 with the foreign ministers of those countries, said a State Department official who spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to announce Rice's schedule.
The IAEA finding was contained in a report drawn up by the organization's chief, Mohamed Elbaradei, that also effectively reflected a standstill between Iran and agency inspectors pursuing open questions linked to possible attempts by Iran to make nuclear arms.
Bush added he was not discouraged by Iran's vow to defy world pressure, saying: "I think the diplomatic options are just beginning."
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said he hoped the Security Council would soon act against Iran.
"I think, if anything, the IAEA report shows that Iran has accelerated its efforts to acquire nuclear weapons although, of course, the report doesn't make any conclusions in that regard," Bolton told reporters.
Bolton said the Security Council should pass a resolution under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which provides for sanctions or military action.
Iran's president said on Friday his country would pay no attention to international calls to halt its nuclear work, hours before the United Nations atomic watchdog reports on whether Tehran has met UN Security Council demands.
"Those who want to prevent Iranians from obtaining their right, should know that we do not give a damn to such resolutions," Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a rally in northwest Iran, the official IRNA news agency reported.
The West accuses Iran of pursuing a civilian nuclear program as a cover to acquire atomic bomb. Tehran denies it.
"Enemies think that by ... threatening us, launching psychological warfare or ... imposing embargos can dissuade our nation to obtain nuclear technology," Ahmadinejad said in Zanjan province.
Iran said this month it had enriched uranium to the level used in power stations for the first time and has vowed to pursue large-scale enrichment of uranium.
Iran: Israel's election to UN Disarmament 'ridiculous'
Iran's UN ambassador said it was "absolutely ridiculous" that Israel was elected to be a vice-chair of the UN Disarmament Commission, claiming it has been singled out as a threat to peace and security in the Middle East.Ambassador Javad Zarif also lashed out at criticism in Israel of Iran's election to be a vice-chair of the commission, calling it absurd that a country which hasn't signed an international disarmament treaty "has the audacity to talk about another country having a seat."
Zarif's criticism follows Ahmadinejad's repeated questioning of Israel's right to exist and threat to wipe Israel off the map. Israel has for years regarded Iran as the primary threat to its survival, disputing Tehran's claims that its nuclear program is peaceful.
"We are not surprised that Iran is continuing in its attempt to divert the international community's attention from the real problem, which is Iran's threat to global security and stability arising from its nuclear program," said Meir Itzchaki, deputy director for arms control in the Foreign Ministry.
"It is disappointing that Iran, once again, is choosing to take advantage of the UN to promote their anti-Semitic agenda and their culture of hatred and terror while acting in total defiance of their international obligations and demands set out by the UN Security Council" and the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Itzchaki said.
Iran's decision in February to start enriching uranium, for what it insists is a peaceful nuclear energy program to produce electricity, led to its referral to the Security Council. Tehran has refused to comply with the council's demand to stop enrichment . The United States, which believes Tehran's real goal is to produce nuclear weapons, is planning to introduce a council resolution shortly that would make its demand to suspend enrichment
compulsory.Zarif, who chaired the UN Disarmament Commission in 2000, noted that Iran is a party to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, considered the cornerstone of nuclear disarmament efforts, while Israel is not. Israel, which is believed to possess nuclear weapons, has refused to sign the treaty along with nuclear rivals India and Pakistan.
"I think it's a rather interesting question that a regime that is not a member of any international treaty, has been recognized by the Security Council time and again as the single most serious threat to the peace and security of the Middle East, has been violating every single Security Council resolution that has been adopted about the Middle East ... has a seat in the Disarmament Commission, and has the audacity to talk about another country having a seat,"
Zarif told a group of reporters at a lunch he hosted."That is absolutely ridiculous," he said. "It's pushing the issue to the border of absurdity."
The Disarmament Commission's missions include trying to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and ensure that atomic energy is used only for peaceful purposes.
Israel and Iran were among eight vice-chairs elected at its current meeting, which began April 10 and ends Friday. Topics on its agenda include "Recommendations for achieving the objective of nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation of nuclear weapons" and "Practical confidence-building measures in the field of conventional weapons."