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VIENNA, Austria - U.N. nuclear chief Mohamed ElBaradei said Thursday that
Iran has refused to suspend uranium enrichment as demanded by the
U.N. Security Council.
In a report to the
International Atomic Energy Agency's board of government obtained by the Associated Press, ElBaradei said "Iran has not suspended its enrichment related activities" and was continuing a variety of enrichment activities.
With the stage set for a fresh showdown between Iran and Western powers, Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice said Thursday that the U.S. and its allies would use the U.N. Security Council and other "available channels" to bring Tehran back to negotiations over its nuclear program.
**Snip**
The Security Council is demanding an immediate and unconditional stop to uranium enrichment, after which European-led negotiations over an economic reward package could begin. Iran, which has long insisted it will not stop its nuclear activities as a precondition for negotiations, missed a Wednesday Security Council deadline to halt enrichment.
**Snip**
"The enemy is making a big mistake if it thinks it can thwart the will of the Iranian nation to achieve the peaceful use of nuclear technology," Iranian state TV's Web site quoted President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying Wednesday.
The IAEA planned to send its report on Iran's compliance Thursday to the agency's 35-nation board and to the Security Council.
Although any finding that Iran has ignored the deadline on enrichment would be a step toward additional sanctions, it was not clear whether U.N. Security Council members Russia and China would go along.
*Snip*
There was no independent confirmation of the information provided by the group, which the United States and the European Union list as a terrorist organization. But it has revealed past secret Iranian nuclear activities subsequently verified by the IAEA or governments.
FULL STORY:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070222/ap_on_re_mi_ea/nuclear_iran