assistant secretary philip crowley remarks on new iranian enrichment equipment

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE

April 9, 2010

Excerpts

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QUESTION: Is there any reaction to Iran’s announcement today about the enriching uranium equipment that is ten times as powerful?

MR. CROWLEY: Well, we – as you know, we had an important meeting in New York yesterday regarding working with countries involved in the – in this issue and the prospect of a resolution on adding sanctions. For countries that are involved in this process, any doubt about what we need to do, everyone should continue to listen to leaders in Iran. This ongoing, chest-bumping about its nuclear program, there’s no – if Iran wants the international community to believe what it says, that it has peaceful intentions with respect to its nuclear program, then Iran has no leave for a third generation or faster centrifuges to be able to do what it’s doing any faster. So Iran continues to add to its own indictment of why the international community is pursuing the steps that it is.

QUESTION: But will it affect sanctions?

MR. CROWLEY: Well, I think if we’re looking to strengthen the indictment against Iran, we should just heed what Iran continues to say. Its comments today just provide greater evidence that notwithstanding its denials, that we have to conclude that Iran has nefarious intentions in its nuclear program. And that’s expressly why we continue to work within the international community on additional measures and sanctions to show Iran that there’s a consequence for failure to meet its obligations.

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