Straw warns Iran to stop enrichment
Jack Straw expresses serious concern at Iranian nuclear enrichment
Wednesday, 12, Apr 2006 12:00
Foreign secretary Jack Straw has said he is "seriously concerned" about Iran's announcement that it has successfully enriched uranium.
He warned the announcement by president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad "further undermines international confidence in the Iranian regime and is deeply unhelpful".
"I call upon Iran to suspend its activities, begin the process of building confidence, and get back into negotiations," Mr Straw said.
"We will remain in close contact with our international partners, whose strong reactions show the depth of international concern there is about Iran's activities."
In a televised speech, President Ahmadinejad announced Iran had on Sunday managed to enrich low-grade uranium and would now press ahead with industrial scale enrichment.
"I am officially announcing that Iran has joined the group of those countries which have nuclear technology," he said.
The Tehran government insists it is only interested in nuclear energy for peaceful means, but the international community fears they are planning to build nuclear weapons.
Mohamed el-Baradei, the head of the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is due in Iran today to assess whether the country is complying with the UN security council's demand to stop all enrichment by the end of April.
In January, Iran ended its two and a half year suspension of its uranium enrichment programme by breaking the seals on its nuclear facility at Natanz. Despite international pressure, the new hardline president has continued to take the process forward.
Last month, the country was referred to the UN security council, and today US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice said they would have to take "strong steps" to "make certain that we maintain the credibility of the international community on this issue".
Even natural allies, such as Russia, have condemned today's announcement, with a spokesman for the Russian foreign ministry insisting: "We believe this step is wrong. It runs counter to decisions of the IAEA and resolutions of the UN security council."
Mr Straw warned: "The Iranian regime must demonstrate by its words and actions that it is not seeking nuclear weapons…If Iran does not comply, the security council will discuss further diplomatic measures."
The news comes after weekend reports suggested the US was drawing up military plans to bomb Iran's underground nuclear facilities. However, US president George Bush dismissed the claims, made by a reputed investigative reporter, as "wild speculation".