New York – Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov exchanged sharp words Wednesday as the Bush administration tried to cement support for new U.N. sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programs.
Rice and Lavrov disagreed at a German-hosted luncheon of foreign ministers from the G-8 group of industrialized nations, according to Lavrov and diplomats present.
Rice and her top aides are moving to capitalize on international frustration with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for declaring on Tuesday that the nuclear issue is “closed.”
Ahmadenijad told world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly that Iran has decided to pursue the monitoring of its nuclear program “through its appropriate legal path,” the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog.
Lavrov said the U.S. wanted to ignore the IAEA.
Nicholas Burns, the State Department’s No. 3 diplomat, said Washington supported the IAEA pact with Iran but stressed that it focused only on past Iranian activity.
The U.S. accuses Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons, something Tehran adamantly denies. Iran is already subject to two U.N. sanctions resolutions, but China and Russia have been reluctant to agree to a new one.
Earlier, Burns had rebuked Ahmadinejad for his comments to the General Assembly.
“I am sorry to tell President Ahmadinejad that the case is not closed,” he said ahead of a meeting with senior diplomats from the five permanent Security Council members and Germany to craft elements of a new sanctions resolution.
