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Rice says Iran must be referred to Security Council

Posted on: Thursday, 12 January 2006, 13:28 CST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice joined European powers on Thursday and said Iran must be referred to the U.N. Security Council over its nuclear plans.

Rice also said the United States wanted an emergency meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, board of governors to discuss Iran's defiant resumption of uranium enrichment work.

"That meeting would be to report Iran's noncompliance with its safeguards' obligations to the U.N. Security Council," Rice told a news conference.

Earlier, France, Germany and Britain, the three European partners negotiating with Iran, said talks with Tehran had reached an impasse and they also agreed it should be sent to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions.

The so-called EU3 and the United States believe Iran is developing nuclear weapons under cover of a civilian atomic energy program. Iran denies the charge, insisting its nuclear ambitions are limited to peaceful power generation.

Iran escalated its nuclear standoff with the West earlier this week when it began removing U.N. seals on equipment used to enrich uranium -- a process of purifying it for use as fuel in nuclear power plants or, when very highly enriched, in bombs.

Rice said the removal of seals demonstrated that Iran had chosen confrontation with the international community over cooperation and negotiations.

"These provocative actions by the Iranian regime have shattered the basis for negotiations," she said.

EU3 officials are set to meet their counterparts from China, Russia and the United States in London next week to discuss how to deal with Iran's disputed nuclear program.

Source: REUTERS

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