Vienna – Iran called Wednesday for talks with the United States – but despite a U.N. Security Council deadline did not budge on council demands that it mothball its uranium enrichment program or face harsher sanctions.
Amid Iran’s nuclear defiance, the U.N. nuclear watchdog finalized a report to be released today that is expected to formally confirm the Islamic republic’s refusal to freeze enrichment – a conclusion that could subject it to tougher U.N. sanctions.
Officials at the International Atomic Energy Agency said the report by Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the Vienna-based U.N. agency, would say Iran has expanded enrichment efforts instead of freezing them.
Once released, the report will be sent to the agency’s 35-nation board and to the Security Council, which had set a deadline of Wednesday for a freeze and said Iranian defiance could lead to sanctions in addition to those imposed in December.
In remarks directed at Washington – the key backer of tougher U.N. action – Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Wednesday the dispute “has to be decided peacefully with the United States.”
