US Senate condemns Iran nuclear program

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US Senate voted unanimously to condemn Iran's nuclear program and to support referring Iran to the UN Security Council for allegedly violating nuclear nonproliferation obligations.

The resolution, adopted without debate, condemned "the many failures of the government of Iran to comply faithfully with its nuclear nonproliferation obligations" and its commitments to suspend uranium enrichment and reprocessing.

The Senate also urged the International Atomic Energy Agency, which meets February 2, "to order that Irans noncompliance with its safeguards obligations be reported to the United Nations Security Council."

The senators further called on UN Security Council members, particularly Russia and China, to quickly "consider any report of Irans noncompliance in fulfillment of the mandate of the Security Council to respond to and deal with situations bearing on the maintenance of international peace and security."

Russia and China have expressed reservations about having the Security Concil take action on Iran, appearing hesitant to have the council become locked into any path that could force sanctions to be applied on Tehran.

The White House on Friday accused Iran of playing "games" with the international community by not accepting a Russian compromise aimed at allaying US concerns that Tehran seeks nuclear weapons.

Asked about Iran's tepid response to the proposal, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said: "They appear to be playing more games with the international community."

A top Iranian nuclear negotiator said Friday that a Russian proposal to carry out sensitive nuclear fuel work outside Iran is "not sufficient."