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Skriven 2006-02-04 23:33:10 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0602042) for Sat, 2006 Feb 4
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President's Statement on IAEA Board Vote to Report Iran to U.N. Security
Council
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
February 4, 2006

President's Statement on IAEA Board Vote to Report Iran to U.N. Security
Council



Today in Vienna, the International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors
voted to report Iran to the United Nations Security Council. This important
step sends a clear message to the regime in Iran that the world will not
permit the Iranian regime to gain nuclear weapons.

The Security Council will now address the IAEA Board's finding of "Iran's
many failures and breaches of its obligations to comply" with its Nuclear
Nonproliferation Treaty Safeguards Agreement. We expect the Security
Council to add its weight to the IAEA Board's calls for the Iranian regime
to: return to the Paris Agreement suspending all enrichment and
reprocessing activity; cooperate fully with the IAEA; and return to
negotiations with the EU-3 of Great Britain, France, and Germany. Those
steps are necessary for the regime to begin to restore any confidence that
it is not seeking nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian program.

Today's vote by the IAEA Board is not the end of diplomacy or the IAEA's
role. Instead, it is the beginning of an intensified diplomatic effort to
prevent the Iranian regime from developing nuclear weapons. We will
continue working with our international partners to achieve that common
objective. The path chosen by Iran's new leaders -- threats, concealment,
and breaking international agreements and IAEA seals -- will not succeed
and will not be tolerated by the international community. The regime's
continued defiance only further isolates Iran from the rest of the world
and undermines the Iranian people's aspirations for a better life.

I end with a message to the Iranian people. The action today by the IAEA
Board of Governors is not about denying the Iranian people the benefits of
civilian nuclear power. The EU-3 and Russia, with the support of the United
States, have made the Iranian regime offers that would enable Iran to have
a civil nuclear energy program. The international community's sole purpose
in this vote is to prevent the acquisition of nuclear weapons by the
regime. Iran's true interests lie in working with the international
community to enjoy the benefits of peaceful nuclear energy, not in
isolating Iran by continuing to develop the capability to build nuclear
weapons.

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