World leaders slam Iran over nuclear row

LONDON, January 11 (IranMania) - World leaders strongly condemned Iran after the Islamic republic resumed disputed nuclear activities and warned Tehran could face the UN Security Council for possible sanctions, AFP reported.

The United States and European Union, concerned that Iran's civilian nuclear program could serve as a cover to build an atomic bomb, reacted angrily after Iran announced the end of a two-year suspension of uranium enrichment.

The United States and Britain, however, said there were no plans to use military force against Tehran over the nuclear row. Iran insists its nuclear program is solely to meet its electricity needs.

"We view this as a serious escalation on the part of Iran on the nuclear issue," US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

"What you see here is the international community coming out and sending a very clear message to Iran that their behavior is unacceptable," McCormack said.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said that if Iran breaches its international obligations, "there's no other choice but to refer the matter" to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions.

President George W. Bush's spokesman said the US leader has "made it pretty clear" that he has no plans to use military force against Iran, although "he never takes options off the table."

Iran had agreed to suspend uranium enrichment pending negotiations with Britain, France and Germany, known as the EU-3, on economic and other incentives to renounce any nuclear weapons ambitions.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw expressed "profound concern" over Tuesday's development and left the door open to referring Tehran to the United Nations Security Council.

Straw said the EU-3 plan to meet Thursday to discuss Iran's action and that possible referral to the Security Council would be at the "top of the agenda."

"We'll make a decision then ... but I think it's clear the direction in which we're thinking," he said.

But Straw ruled out using force against Iran.

"Military action is not on our agenda, and I don't believe it's on anyone else's agenda," he said, pre-empting speculation that Israel or the United States might attempt a military strike.

In a statement, the European Union said Iran's move was "continuously eroding international confidence in the peaceful nature of its nuclear program and is of serious concern to the entire international community."

The bloc lamented Iran's "serious and regrettable steps" to remove seals of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN's nuclear watchdog, from the Natanz research facility.

IAEA Director Mohamed ElBaradei said Iran had told his agency it wants to restart centrifuges at Natanz to enrich uranium on a "small scale."

The EU has been trying to reopen talks suspended in August after Iran rejected an initial set of incentives to abandon uranium enrichment, which produces fuel for nuclear power reactors but can also be used to make atomic bombs.

French President Jacques Chirac said the Islamic republic -- along with fellow nuclear suspect North Korea -- "would be committing a serious mistake if they did not take the hand that we are holding out to them".

Meanwhile Russia, which has offered a compromise deal to enrich Iranian uranium on Russian soil, expressed concern and disappointment over Iran's action.

"We call on Iran to return actively to a condition of moratorium and to full cooperation with the IAEA," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted by ITAR-TASS news agency.