Daily Alert Archives

U.S. Skeptical on Iranian Deal for Nuclear Fuel

(New York Times) David E. Sanger and Michael Slackman - The U.S., Europe and Russia responded with extreme skepticism to Iran's announcement on Monday that it had reached an agreement to ship roughly half of its nuclear fuel to Turkey, saying they would continue to press for new sanctions against Tehran. Officials from several countries said the deal, negotiated with the leaders of Turkey and Brazil, was a deftly timed attempt to throw the sanctions effort off track. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said in a statement: "While it would be a positive step for Iran to transfer low-enriched uranium off of its soil as it agreed to do last October, Iran said today that it would continue its 20% enrichment, which is a direct violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions." Gibbs made clear that the U.S. would continue to press forward with sanctions until Iran demonstrates "through deeds - and not simply words - its willingness to live up to international obligations or face consequences, including sanctions." Sergei B. Ivanov, the deputy prime minister of Russia, was similarly skeptical, saying he expected the sanctions resolution to "be voted in the near future," and said that the new Iranian accord should not be "closely linked" to the sanctions effort.
2010-05-18 07:55:18
Full Article