US dismisses IAEA report of “progress” over Iran’s nuclear programs (tags)
The Bush administration has rapidly rejected the findings of an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report finalised on Thursday, which found that Iran had made “substantial progress” towards clarifying outstanding questions about its nuclear programs. The US confirmed its intention to press ahead with another UN Security Council resolution demanding that Iran halt its uranium enrichment and other nuclear programs. The US ambassador to the UN, Zalmay Khalilzad, declared that Washington would like to see more “biting” sanctions against Tehran than those imposed under UN resolutions passed last December and in March. The debate surrounding the latest IAEA report is not simply a rerun of previous arguments. Behind Washington’s demands for tougher UN sanctions is the barely concealed threat of a unilateral US military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. In response to a declaration last month by Russian President Vladimir Putin that there was “no objective evidence” that Iran was building nuclear weapons, US President Bush warned that Iran should be prevented from having the knowledge to make a bomb “if you’re interested in avoiding World War III”.