| WASHINGTON,
Feb. 2006
–
A "tremendous" coalition of
countries remains united in its stance
against nuclear weapon development in
Iran, a situation sparking increasing
international concern, said the nation's
senior diplomat today.
"The Iranians now need step
back, look at where they are, see that
they're isolated on this issue, and
return to a state in which they go back
and seal the activities that they have
begun, ... and get back into
negotiations with those who are prepared
to offer them a course for civil nuclear
power," Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice said on ABC's
"This Week."
Rice was referring to the country's
resumption of enriched uranium research,
which can lead to the production of
nuclear weapons.
Iran's president, Mahomoud
Ahmadinejad, has publicly disavowed the
intent to produce nuclear weapons,
claiming the country is trying to
produce nuclear energy. However, the
president now is saying that Iran is
considering a withdrawal from the
Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which
restricts the possession of nuclear
weapons.
"The really remarkable thing
over the past several months is there is
really now a tremendous coalition of
countries saying exactly the same thing
to Iran," Rice said. "The
'permanent five' - the United States,
Russia, China, Great Britain and France
- are united with countries like Brazil
and India and others."
And the International Atomic Energy
Agency board of governors has reported
the Iranians up to the U.N. Security
Council, Rice said.
With a consensus among nations, Iran
is only isolating itself with its
actions, Rice said, adding that Iran
still has the option to pursue a
peaceful nuclear program.
"The Russians have given them a
proposal; the Europeans gave them a
proposal," Rice said. "The
question is, will they be allowed to
have technology that could lead to a
nuclear weapon?"
Rice said the answer is clear.
"They've been lying to the
international community for 18
years," the secretary said.
"An Iran with a nuclear weapon
would be a threat - a grave threat - to
international peace and security."
Rice said it is vital that Iran
"get back into good graces with the
IAEA and get back into negotiations with
those that are prepared to offer them
support."
In the meantime, Rice emphasized that
the United States remains dedicated to a
diplomatic approach, despite reports
that the government is considering other
avenues, such as a show of force.
"We believe a diplomatic
approach as the one we now anticipate
... will give us a way to resolve this
problem," the secretary said.
"The president never takes any of
his options off the table ... but there
is a diplomatic solution to this.
Rice then responded to recent
comments on the "tallest man in
Afghanistan," Osama bin Laden, not
being captured or killed yet.
"We are dealing with a figure
who has been able to hide, but he's on
the run," Rice said. "His
organization has been significantly
weakened because of the international
effort against al Qaeda."
Rice emphasized that bin Laden today
is "not the figure who sat for the
entire period of the 1990s in
Afghanistan with training camps there
able to carry out operations able to
launch effective attacks against the
U.S., against our embassies, against the
(USS) Cole and, ultimately, against us
with Sept. 11, 2001.
With the support of Pakistan, Saudi
Arabia and Afghanistan, "it's a
very different situation we face,"
she said. "Even if it takes us time
to find Osama bin Laden, we are breaking
up the al Qaeda network."
The ultimate goal is to work toward a
"hopeful future," the
secretary said. "That ultimately is
going to form a different kind of Middle
East -- a Middle East that does not
spawn the kind of hatred that produced
the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11,
2001."
(Air Force Reserve Tech. Sgt. Elaine
Wilson is assigned to Air Force News
Agency, San Antonio.)
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