Iran’s decision to expand nuclear program pushes USA to seeking tough measures

The U.N. nuclear agency's confirmation that Iran has expanded its uranium enrichment program set the stage for difficult negotiations on new U.N. sanctions, with the United States, Britain and France again likely to seek tougher measures than Russia and China will accept.

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Senior diplomats from the five permanent Security Council nations and Germany will meet on Monday in London to start work on a new resolution to try to pressure Iran to suspend enrichment, which can lead to the production of nuclear weapons.

U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, who announced the London meeting in Washington, said Iran was "effectively thumbing its nose at the international community" and a new resolution was needed to "see Iran repudiated again."

He said it was too soon to say what provisions the resolution might contain.

Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said he had "no substantive comment" on the International Atomic Energy Agency's report Thursday which concluded that "Iran has not suspended its enrichment related activities" as the Security Council demanded in a resolution adopted on Dec. 23. But he reiterated Moscow's desire for a diplomatic negotiated solution, the AP said.

"We should not lose sight of the goal - and the goal is not to have a resolution or to impose sanctions," Churkin said. "The goal is to accomplish a political outcome."

The IAEA began probing Iran's nuclear activities more than four years ago, after revelations of nearly 20 years of secret work that included plans to enrich uranium. Since then, it has made several worrying finds, including Iranian experiments with plutonium, unexplained traces of enriched uranium, and a document showing how to mold uranium into the shape of nuclear warheads.

Last June, the six nations offered Tehran a package of economic incentives and political rewards if it agreed to consider a long-term moratorium on enrichment and committed itself to a freeze before negotiations on its nuclear program. Tehran refused to comply with an Aug. 31 deadline to suspend enrichment, insisting its program is aimed solely at producing nuclear energy.

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