US says Iran moving forward with nuclear program
25/10/2006 17:04
The United States said yesterday that Iran is moving forward with its
nuclear program and the UN Security Council should pass a resolution to impose
sanctions on the country.
"It is clear that Iran is moving forward, full
steam ahead, with its nuclear program," State Department spokesman Sean
McCormack said at a briefing.
"And I think this underscores the importance of
the international community
acting by way of passing a resolution which
imposes sanctions on Iran, in an effort to get the Iranians to change their
behavior and to underscore that the international community means business,"
McCormack said.
Mohamed ElBaradei, director-general of the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said in Washington on Monday that Iran had taken
another step in its ability to enrich uranium.
Iranian technicians had pieced
together a second line, or cascade, of 164 centrifuges and are days away from
using the cascade to enrich uranium, ElBaradei said, quoted by the Washington
Post.
The United States has been seeking to impose sanctions on Iran through
the UN Security Council on the grounds that the Islamic country develops a
nuclear weapon program under the cover of a civilian program. However, Iran has
said that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
Iran has said it
wants talks with the Europe, Russia, China and the United States but it will not
suspend its nuclear work in advance.
Xinhua News
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