Skip to main content
U.S. Edition
Search
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
WORLD

Rice: Iran can have nuclear energy, not arms

U.N. gives Iran 30 days to cooperate on nuclear program

story.rice.afp.gi.jpg
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice addresses a news conference Thursday in Berlin, Germany.

RELATED

QUICKVOTE

Do you think the U.N. Security Council will be effective in curbing Iran's nuclear program?
Yes
No
or View Results

YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS

Iran
Nuclear Policies
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
Germany

BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday that Iran does not need to give up on nuclear energy, just uranium enrichment that could lead to nuclear weapons.

Rice was in Berlin on Thursday for multination talks on Iran's uranium enrichment activities.

Earlier, the U.N. Security Council unanimously called on Iran to suspend uranium enrichment within 30 days and cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog.

Iran's U.N. ambassador, Javad Zarif, said in response that Iran had an "inalienable right" to pursue nuclear energy and told reporters, "we are allergic to pressure and intimidation." (Watch Iran fight against U.N. pressure -- 2:19)

Rice said after the meeting that the international community must keep pressure on Iran on the nuclear issue.

"I think this does send a very strong signal to Iran that the international community is united and expects Iran to adhere to the just demands of the international community that its nuclear activities be demonstrably for civilian purposes and that there are ways that Iran can have a civil nuclear program," Rice said. "But it has to be a way that gives confidence to the international community than an Iran that for 18 years was not truthful with the IAEA is indeed conducting only civil nuclear activities."

Attending the meeting with Rice are ministers representing the other permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- Britain, France, Russia and China. Together with the United States they are known as the P5. (Full story)

Russia and China both urged some caution on the part of the West in its dealings with Iran.

"Russia does not believe that sanctions would serve the purpose of settling the various issues," said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, while China's foreign minister, Li Zhaoxing, said his country does not want to see more turmoil in the region.

Germany, which with Britain and France took part in two years of talks aimed at ending the standoff over Iran's nuclear program, also joined the session.

"We all hope very much that Iran will take this opportunity which is offered to it to enter into negotiations once again, and we here once again call on Iran to cease all its enrichment activities and to reopen way to discussion," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said.

Talks stalled in January when Iran began small-scale uranium enrichment and ended its voluntary cooperation with the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency, which had been conducting surprise inspections.

The council on Wednesday passed a presidential statement, the result of three weeks of dogged diplomacy that highlighted fissures among the five permanent members. The statement calls on Iran to comply with IAEA regulations within 30 days.

With the tough negotiations about the U.N. text behind them, Rice said earlier the ministers will "really have an opportunity to look ahead to next steps."

She called Thursday's talks an "opening discussion" about the diplomatic road ahead regarding Iran, but indicated that targeted sanctions against the Iranian government were likely options.

"A lot depends on what the Iranians do" in response, Rice said.

While U.N. diplomacy is expected to focus on the Iranian nuclear issue, Rice predicted the ministers would discuss Iran's support of Palestinian terrorist groups, its interference in Lebanon and Syria and inflammatory rhetoric from President Mahmoud Ahmananijad. She said it all shows the current regime "is a troublesome regime for peace and stability in the Middle East."

The IAEA raised questions about Iran's nuclear program in a report earlier this month, noting that the Iranians are testing 20 centrifuges capable of enriching uranium and producing enriched uranium in 10 others.

Those numbers are well shy of the thousands that would be required to produce enough fuel for nuclear weapons. But the Security Council noted that inspectors were "unable to conclude that there are no undeclared nuclear materials or activities in Iran."

U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said Wednesday's statement sends "a very clear message" that Iran should meet its obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

"There's no ambiguity here," Bolton said. "We're waiting for the Iranians to do what they said they were going to do and violated, and the obligations that they undertook by being a member of the IAEA."

Story Tools
Click Here to try 4 Free Trial Issues of Time! cover
Top Stories
Get up-to-the minute news from CNN
CNN.com gives you the latest stories and video from the around the world, with in-depth coverage of U.S. news, politics, entertainment, health, crime, tech and more.
Top Stories
Get up-to-the minute news from CNN
CNN.com gives you the latest stories and video from the around the world, with in-depth coverage of U.S. news, politics, entertainment, health, crime, tech and more.
CNN U.S.
CNN TV E-mail Services CNN Mobile CNNAvantGo Ad Info About Us Preferences
Search
© 2007 Cable News Network LP, LLLP.
A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us. Site Map.
Offsite Icon External sites open in new window; not endorsed by CNN.com
Pipeline Icon Pay service with live and archived video. Learn more
Radio News Icon Download audio news  |  RSS Feed Add RSS headlines