AUSTRIA: UN Secretary General expresses concern over Iran's failure to meet the Security Council deadline to comply with its nuclear demands.

Record ID: 560639

  • Title: AUSTRIA: UN Secretary General expresses concern over Iran's failure to meet the Security Council deadline to comply with its nuclear demands.
  • Date: 22nd February 2007
  • Summary: (W3) VIENNA, AUSTRIA (FEBRUARY 22, 2007)(REUTERS) NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNITED NATIONS (U.N.) SECRETARY GENERAL BAN KI-MOON SAYING: "I am deeply concerned again that (the) Iranian government did not meet the deadline set by the Security Council. In fact this is...this has been in the hands of the Security Council...(the) Security Council has adopted a sanction measure against the Iranians and we hoped that the Iranian government would have fully complied with all these resolutions adopted by the Security Council." OFFICIALS LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNITED NATIONS (U.N.) SECRETARY GENERAL BAN KI-MOON SAYING: "Now, as the IAEA Director General is going to make his report to the Security Council I understand that the Security Council member states will handle, will discuss, this issue again. The Iranian nuclear issue has great implications for the peace and stability as well as non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. I urge again that (the) Iranian government should fully comply with the Security Council as soon as possible and engage in continued negotiation with the international community so that we will be able to address and peacefully resolve this issue." NEWS CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 9th March 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Austria
  • Country: Austria
  • Topics: International Relations,Defence / Military
  • Reuters ID: LVA4IVTSQ2K90Q4GCHKBGNARVGJ7
  • Story Text: The U.N. secretary general has said he is "deeply concerned" that Iran did not meet the deadline set by the U.N. Security Council and appealed to Iran to continue to negotiate with the intenational community towards a peaceful resolution. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on Thursday (February 22) urged Iran to comply with Security Council demands over its nuclear programme amid reports that it has defiantly stepped up its operations instead of winding them down.
    "I am deeply concerned again that (the) Iranian government did not meet the deadline set by the Security Council. In fact this is...this has been in the hands of the Security Council...(the) Security Council has adopted a sanction measure against the Iranians and we hoped that the Iranian government would have fully complied with all these resolutions adopted by the Security Council," Ban told a news conference in Vienna.
    "The Iranian nuclear issue has great implications for the peace and stability as well as non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. I urge again that (the) Iranian government should fully comply with the Security Council as soon as possible and engage in continued negotiation with the international community so that we will be able to address and peacefully resolve this issue, " he added.
    A nuclear watchdog report due on Thursday is likely to confirm Iran has expanded rather than halted its nuclear fuel programme, exposing Tehran to possible wider sanctions over fears it secretly wants to make atom bombs.
    As a 60-day grace period for it to stop enriching uranium expired on Wednesday (February 21) Iran offered to guarantee it was not pursuing nuclear weapons, but only as part of negotiations.
    It has refused to shelve the programme as a precondition for talks and says it is enriching uranium only to make electricity. Iran says it wants several nuclear power plants to prepare for the day crude reserves run out and to maximise exports meanwhile. Its first atomic power plant is not yet finished.
    The Security Council commissioned the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to report on whether Iran had heeded the deadline for it to mothball enrichment-related activity.
    The West fears Iran, which hid enrichment research from the IAEA for 18 years and has impeded investigations into whether its programme is wholly peaceful, is trying to make bombs under cover of a civilian nuclear energy programme.
    pc/jrc
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