US: Iran still has time to avoid sanctions
The US is awaiting a formal UN deadline before seeking any new measures to coerce or punish Iran over its disputed nuclear programme, the State Department says.
“We’re looking at the August 31 date and I think once we get there, we’ll begin to take action,” said State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos.
The UN Security Council is set to take up the Iran case on August 31, and could soon consider a new resolution to impose economic or other sanctions on Tehran. The US has long favoured sanctions.
The UN Security Council gave Iran until the end of August to stop enriching uranium, a key component of both nuclear weapons and the peaceful nuclear energy that Tehran says it wants.
The suspension is a precondition before Iran could bargain with European nations and the US over a package offering Iran economic and other incentives if it gives up portions of its nuclear program that the West fears could produce a bomb.
Iran made a counter-offer to the proposal on Tuesday that ignores the UN demand on uranium.
Germany said yesterday that Iran’s response appeared unsatisfactory, and Gallegos repeated the US assessment that the response “falls short” of UN conditions.
“We’ve acknowledged that Iran considers its response a serious offer and we’re reviewing it,” Gallegos said. “I note that there is still time before August 31 for Iran to comply.”
Meanwhile, two senior diplomats who have been briefed on the Iranian response said the US and other world powers would likely reject Tehran’s terms.
The diplomats said the 25-page Iranian document does not suggest an enrichment moratorium once negotiations start and includes only a vague reference to a willingness to discuss all aspects of Iran’s nuclear programme.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said President George Bush spoke with German Chancellor Angela Merkel by phone yesterday about Iran and the diplomatic effort in reaction to Tehran’s response.
Perino would not say whether Bush agreed with Merkel that Iran’s response was “unsatisfactory” and she would not say whether the two leaders agreed on what should be done next.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke yesterday with diplomatic counterparts from the European Union, Russia and Germany, all participants in the international outreach to Iran, but Gallegos provided no details of the conversations.
Despite cooperation so far from Russia and China, which, like the US, hold veto power at the UN Security Council, it is not clear that those nations would agree to impose harsh sanctions on Iran once the deadline passes.
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