U.S. Says No Choice but to Consider Sanctions on Iran
White House spokesman Scott McClellan, traveling with President Bush on a brief trip to Kentucky, told reporters that if the European-led negotiations had run their course, then there was no other option but to refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said it was now "more likely than ever" that Iran would be hauled before the Security Council.
Iran removed U.N. seals at uranium enrichment research facilities on Tuesday and announced it would resume "research and development" on producing uranium fuel, prompting angry reactions from Washington, the European Union and Russia.
"I think that the Iranian regime has made another serious miscalculation by their latest actions, and we are engaged in some intensive diplomacy right now. We are talking with our European friends and others about how to move ahead and those discussions continue," McClellan said.
He said the international community had given Iran a chance to negotiate in good faith, but instead Tehran "is showing yet again that they are going to ignore the demands of the international community, and I think that's a serious miscalculation."
"We believe that if the negotiations have run their course and Iran is not going to negotiate in good faith, then there's no other option but to refer the matter to the Security Council," McClellan said. "If that happens then we would talk about what actions need to be taken at that time."
Asked by reporters about Washington's aims in seeking to get Iran referred to the Security Council, the State Department's McCormack said "we still seek to change Iranian behavior through diplomatic channels."
Washington has long said it maintains all options on the table in the stand-off with Iran.
In London, British Prime Minister Tony Blair called for the U.N. Security Council to consider action against Iran.
Iran says its nuclear program is entirely peaceful. The U.N. nuclear watchdog has found no firm proof to the contrary.
