As U.N. deadline nears, Iran enriching more uranium

WASHINGTON – Iranian nuclear specialists have begun enriching a new batch of uranium in an apparent act of defiance just days ahead of a U.N. Security Council deadline for Tehran to stop such work or face the prospect of economic sanctions, officials in Washington and European capitals who have been monitoring Iran’s efforts said Tuesday.

Inspectors with the International Atomic Energy Agency plan to formally disclose the new enrichment work, as well as additional Iranian nuclear advances, in a report due out Thursday, according to the officials, some of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The officials stressed that the Iranians were working at a slow pace with small quantities of uranium, and that they were enriching the material to an extremely low level that could not be used for nuclear weapons. Still, it was unlikely that the Iranians would stop the work in time to meet the Security Council’s deadline.

For three years, Iran and the United States have publicly sparred over a nuclear program that Tehran says it built to produce energy but which the Bush administration believes is a cover for nuclear weapons work. IAEA inspectors have been trying, without success, to determine the true nature of the program, which Iran kept secret for 18 years.

Last month, the Security Council ordered Iran to shutter its nuclear facilities by Aug. 31 and cooperate with inspectors or face consequences. If Iran complied, U.S. officials said they were prepared to join talks on Iran’s nuclear program and the possibility of future cooperation. But Tuesday, senior Bush administration officials said they were determined to impose sanctions against the Tehran government if it fails to comply, even though Russia and other nations seem reluctant to participate.

“We’ve seen no indication that Iran intends to comply with the U.N. Security Council’s condition of suspending its nuclear program,” said Undersecretary of State R. Nicholas Burns, the administration’s lead diplomat on the Iran issue. “Should it not comply by Thursday, and should the IAEA report confirm Iran’s continued efforts to enrich uranium, the U.S. will move to begin sanctions discussion at the United Nations, and we expect a sanctions resolution to be passed,” he said.

Despite comments over the weekend from senior Russian officials that it is too early for sanctions, Burns said the administration would press for the commitments that it believes Moscow and others made when they passed the deadline resolution in July.

Burns said he would meet his European, Chinese and Russian counterparts for further talks next week in Berlin, and that he expected sanctions in place by the end of September.