Bush vows campaign against Iran following IAEA

Washington, Apr 29: United States President George W Bush said his country is prepared to launch a vigorous diplomatic campaign aimed at confronting Iran's nuclear ambitions following the release of a report yesterday from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that documents Tehran's noncompliance with the demands of the UN Security Council.

It's very important for the Iranians to understand there's a common desire by a lot of nations in this world to convince them, peacefully convince them, that they ought to give up their weapons ambitions, Mr Bush told reporters at a White House press conference here yesterday.

The IAEA report came at the request of the Security Council, which passed a presidential statement March 29 giving Iran thirty days to halt its uranium enrichment research and cooperate with the IAEA's efforts to monitor the Iranian nuclear program.

The UN nuclear agency says Iran has failed to meet a Security Council deadline to stop enriching uranium. President Bush said key members of the international community are united in addressing the issue. Russia and China oppose U.S. calls for sanctions.

Mr Bush said the report is an "important statement" because it reminds the world of the united diplomatic efforts to convince Iran to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

Iran said it is enriching uranium for the peaceful civilian purpose of generating electricity. Tehran said it has that right and is determined to continue the process regardless of U.N. demands.

Asked if that defiance undermines hopes for a peaceful solution, President Bush said he believes the diplomatic options are just beginning.

Those options are limited by the willingness of Russia and China to go along with US, French, and British calls for more binding action. Russia has said the matter should be resolved through the UN nuclear agency and not at the Security Council.

President Bush said all five permanent Security Council members agree on the need to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.

"Now that we've got the goal in mind, we are working on the tactics," he said. And today's IAEA report should remind us all that the Iranian government's intransigence is not acceptable." President Bush dismissed comparisons with UN actions against Iraq in the run-up to the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, saying then-Iraqi-dictator Saddam Hussein had defied decades of U.N.

resolutions and was threatening US troops in the region.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a rally that the nation will not "give a damn" about what he called useless U.N. resolutions.

Asked about those comments and whether President Ahmadinejad is someone he could work with, President Bush said it is going to be the Iranian leader's choice eventually.

US Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton told reporters in New York that the United States is ready to take the next step in the Security Council and draft a Chapter 7 resolution, which ultimately could allow for punitive measures if Iran does not comply.

He said the council should act urgently given Iran's ongoing efforts to acquire nuclear weapons capabilities. Iran recently announced, in defiance of the Security Council's demand, that it successfully has enriched a small quantity of uranium, a first step toward developing weapons-grade fissile material.

UNI

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