IAEA report may tighten Iran sanctions

Associated Press

VIENNA, Austria - The U.N. nuclear watchdog on Wednesday put finishing touches on a report expected to confirm that Iran is continuing uranium enrichment activities, a finding that could trigger harsher U.N. Security Council sanctions against Tehran.

Officials at the International Atomic Energy Agency said the report by Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the Vienna-based organization, would likely say that Iran has expanded enrichment efforts instead of freezing them.

Once it is ready — which was initially expected Wednesday but was moved back to Thursday late in the day — the report will be sent to the agency's 35-nation board and the U.N. Security Council.

The council set a 60-day deadline on Dec. 23 for such a freeze and said continued Iranian defiance past that ultimatum, which runs out Wednesday, could lead to sanctions additional to those it imposed last month.

Top Iranian officials showed no signs of compromise.

"The enemy is making a big mistake if it thinks it can thwart the will of the Iranian nation to achieve the peaceful use of nuclear technology," Iranian state TV's Web site quoted President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying Wednesday.

On Tuesday, he said his country was ready to stop its enrichment program, but only if Western nations do the same — something the United States and others with similar programs are unlikely to even consider.

"Do you believe that's a serious offer?" White House press secretary Tony Snow asked. "It's pretty clear that the international community has said to the Iranians, `You can have nuclear power but we don't want you to have the ability to build nuclear weapons.' And that is an offer we continue to make."

In Berlin, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her German counterpart expressed hope that Iran might still compromise on its nuclear program, but neither said what action Tehran might face for defying the U.N. deadline.

"The best course would be for Iran to suspend its enrichment and reprocessing activities so that we can return to negotiations," Rice told reporters. "That is the entire purpose of having the pressure on the Iranian regime, so that the Iranian regime can make better choices about how to engage the international community."

Further increasing the pressure on Iran, its longtime ally India said Wednesday it has banned the export of all material, equipment and technology which could contribute to Tehran's nuclear program. Indian officials have in the past said they do not want Iran to develop nuclear weapons, but stressed more time was needed for diplomacy.

Iranian calls for talks — voiced separately this week by Ahmadinejad, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and senior nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani — suggested an attempt to convey flexibility on the eve of the deadline.

Mottaki, in Turkey, said talks on the nuclear dispute should try to achieve an agreement allowing "Iran to achieve its rights" while eliminating "concerns" about its nuclear ambitions. Larijani, in Vienna, said his country was "looking for ways and means to start negotiations."

But the officials did not offer what the Security Council is demanding — an immediate and unconditional stop to uranium enrichment. Iran has long insisted it will not stop its nuclear activities as a condition for negotiations to start.

The United States and its allies suspect that Iran is using its nuclear program to produce an atomic weapon — charges Iran denies, saying its aim is to generate electricity. Enriched to a low level, uranium is used to produce nuclear fuel but further enrichment makes it suitable for use in building an atomic bomb.

While telling reporters his country was prepared to deliver "assurances that there would be no deviation ... toward a nuclear weapons program," Larijani offered no new suggestions — and indirectly ruled out suspending enrichment, saying that was just a "pretext" to put political pressure on his country.

Larijani was even more direct in rejecting an enrichment freeze as a precondition for negotiations in talks with ElBaradei, according to diplomats familiar with the substance of their conversation.

"He ruled out suspension and said Iran was not afraid of (U.N.) sanctions," one of the diplomats told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of because his information was confidential. The diplomat said Larijani told ElBaradei that Iran could consider an enrichment freeze only as a result of talks — and not before sitting down at the negotiating table.

Iran has rejected the Security Council resolution as "illegal," and said it would not give up its right to enrich under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

Still, no new sanctions were expected immediately.

Discussions on a new resolution aimed at stepping up pressure on Iran are expected to start next week, a Security Council diplomat said in New York, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Possible new sanctions could include a travel ban against individuals on the U.N. list, an expansion of the list, economic measures such as a ban on export guarantees to Iran, and an expansion of the nuclear embargo to an arms embargo, the diplomat said.

But Russia and China, both veto-holding council members with close ties to Iran, are likely to oppose economic sanctions or a weapons bans. A travel ban was also dropped from the initial resolution because of Moscow's opposition.

Striking a combative note after meeting ElBaradei, Larijani warned the U.S. against opting for force instead of negotiations.

"If they ... move into the boxing ring, they would have problems," Larijani told reporters in response to a question about U.S. pressure on Iran to give up enrichment. "But if they sit at the chess table, then both sides would come to a result."

With the U.S. recently moving against Iranians whom it accuses of helping Shiite militias in Iraq and beefing up its naval presence in the Persian Gulf, Larijani's comments were seen as veiled warnings that any additional U.S. weight on his country would be met in kind.