MOSCOW, April 19 (RIA Novosti) - The U.S. deputy secretary of state on Wednesday called for all countries to sever nuclear ties with Iran, including construction of a nuclear power plant at Bushehr being built with Russian help.
Speaking following a Moscow meeting of the deputy foreign ministers of the five permanent UN Security Council members and Germany, Nicholas Burns Burns also said Iran had crossed the line drawn by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN's nuclear watchdog, and the Security Council had to offer an adequate diplomatic response to defiant Tehran.
He said the five permanent Security Council members and Germany, as well as the Group of Eight industrialized nations had to come to terms on specific moves toward Iran in the next two or three weeks.
Burns said Tehran's announcement of successful accomplishment of a research-scale nuclear fuel cycle last week must prompt IAEA head Mohammed ElBaradei to conclude that Iran did not honor the IAEA and UN Security Council's demands to end uranium enrichment.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced April 11 that the Islamic Republic had successfully produced low-enriched uranium, which can eventually lead to Tehran receiving bomb-grade fuel, although experts say this might take years.
Burns said time had come to build up pressure on Iran via the Security Council and by efforts of individual countries. He also praised Russia's offer to enrich uranium for the Islamic Republic on Russian soil.
ElBaradei is expected to report to the UN Security Council on Iran's compliance with its non-proliferation commitments by the end of April. If the Islamic Republic fails to re-impose a moratorium on uranium enrichment by that time, as demanded by the Security Council, it might face economic isolation.
The IAEA head, who visited Iran April 13-14, said he could not confirm that Iran had enriched uranium to 3.5%, sufficient to produce sustained fission reactions in nuclear power plants, but called on the Islamic Republic to suspend all nuclear activities by the UN-set deadline.
Moscow said Wednesday IAEA board should consider the issue again before it goes to the United Nations.
Russia, which is helping Iran build a $800-million nuclear power plant, and China, a major consumer of Iranian oil, have so far opposed sanctions against Tehran.
