Weapon Program:
- Nuclear
Related Country:
- Turkey
. . .
QUESTION: -- your other strong area of agreement with the Turks? What was the upshot of the conversation on the Iran sanctions resolution, and will the Turks support it?
MR. CROWLEY: Well, as to whether - what Turkey will do when the resolution comes to a vote in the Security Council, I'll defer to the Government of Turkey to make its own judgment. Foreign Minister Davutoglu gave the Secretary some background in terms of what happened in Tehran. The Secretary went through our outstanding concerns regarding Iran's behavior, obviously made more compelling by the most recent IAEA report that highlights the fact that Iran is hiding equipment, failing to cooperate fully with the IAEA, continues its enrichment activity. And the Secretary again made a compelling case that we have two tracks, but our judgment is that Iran will not move appreciably unless it is subject to additional international pressure.
QUESTION: Was he swayed by her compelling case?
QUESTION: Or maybe it wasn't so compelling to him.
MR. CROWLEY: Look, Turkey will make up its own judgment. Our work is continuing on the various elements of the resolution, including work on the annexes, and we expect this work to be done in the next few days.
QUESTION: Just to follow on that, you said - because it was very clear in the conversation that the foreign minister was having with reporters today that they're not going to - they see no reasons to support sanctions at this time, that the TRR deal is an opening that he feels the P-5+1 should take. And so it sounded pretty clear that if you were to go forward in the next few days that you would get a no vote from Turkey, if not Brazil. And are you prepared to go that - are you prepared to risk coming out of there with a resolution that has three no votes, which you've never had on a resolution involving Iran before?
MR. CROWLEY: Well, I won't prejudge what happens in the coming days. The Secretary made clear that we are continuing to work within the Security Council on a draft resolution. We are prepared to bring it forward in the next few days. Turkey will make up its own mind as to how to evaluate this.
During the course of the meeting, the foreign minister made clear what we understood beforehand, which is Turkey's view of sanctions as a tool. We see this in a different way. But ultimately, Turkey, as with the other members of the Council, will determine how they want to vote on the prospective resolution.
QUESTION: P.J., just to follow on that. In other words, you're - it's better to have some sort of resolution passed now even with no votes than to wait to get general international consensus and have a resolution passed with only yes votes?
MR. CROWLEY: It is the position of the United States that Iran is unlikely to change its current stance with respect to the IAEA absent of some additional international pressure.
QUESTION: And isn't it just a - and isn't it - aren't you driven somewhat here by timing, because if you don't get a resolution passed by the middle of June, it would be difficult to get a resolution passed by the European Union before they go on their August recess? I mean --
MR. CROWLEY: Well --
QUESTION: -- isn't that a large part of what you're pressing for --
MR. CROWLEY: We don't have a specific timetable. The President has indicated he would like to see this action taken by the end of spring. We're now June 1st. The end of spring is approaching. (Laughter.) Filing break. (Laughter.)
QUESTION: Did the subject of the President's letters to Brazil and Turkey come up in the meeting? And beyond that, was there discussion of - there seems to be a miscommunication or at least on the surface a miscommunication about what - how much the U.S. understood of what Turkey and Brazil through they were doing --
MR. CROWLEY: I don't think there was a miscommunication at all. The issue that was discussed at some length during the meeting was not so much what was in the TRR proposal, but what Iran has chosen to do and continue to do outside of the TRR proposal - I think from our standpoint, the statements by Foreign Minister Mottaki both in New York and also back in Tehran that the TRR deal, in essence, doesn't matter. Iran is prepared to continue to enrich, which means that Iran is stating that it is prepared to continue to function outside of its international obligations, its responsibilities to the IAEA, and its responsibilities under multiple UN Security Council resolutions.
And so the Secretary made that point, which is we deeply appreciate what Turkey did and continues to do in terms of seeking a diplomatic solution. We think that the diplomatic track and the pressure track work in tandem. And given Iran's demonstrated behavior, given its unwillingness to live up to its international obligations, the United States has made its own mind - reached a judgment that the best way to get Iran to change course is through additional sanctions that we are working on within the Security Council.
Ultimately, Turkey and other countries will have to make their own judgment based on where - what Iran has said and what Iran continues to do. The very strong report put out by Director General Amano in the last couple of days continues to underscore in our mind that Iran is not prepared to meet its international obligations. And as we've all along, we believe that should have consequences.
QUESTION: But did the foreign minister say that he felt that he had gotten a consistent message from the U.S. Government regarding this TRR proposal, in and of itself?
MR. CROWLEY: The facts of the TRR proposal are not in dispute. We are looking not just at the TRR proposal, but at the full weight of effort or, in the case of Iran, lack of effort. And it is our judgment that the TRR proposal and Iran's response overall, not just the TRR proposal but more broadly, has not built the confidence that we had hoped for. So we don't see any significant change in Iran's behavior. We see what's on paper in terms of the joint declaration. But at the same time, the Iranian actions and words, their ongoing commitment to continue to enrich, which is in violation of the IAEA Safeguards Agreement, in violation - contravention of UN Security Council resolutions, that is the basis upon which we believe the sanctions resolution should go forward.
QUESTION: Just more broadly, because, I mean, here it is a year later - a year after the so-called Green Revolution, and the whole basis on which the American government went forward was to demonstrate how increasingly isolated Iran is in the eyes of the international community. And yet here it is now, a year later, months and months of negotiations, and you run the - have the possibility where two major members of the Security Council, up and coming countries such as Brazil and Turkey, are not in agreement with you, are defending the Iranian Government, feel that - argue that the Iranian Government has tried to reach out and work cooperatively. And how did you get to this situation? I mean --
MR. CROWLEY: Well, let me take issue, Glenn, with the supposition behind your question. During the course of the meeting today, the foreign minister reiterated that Turkey has the very same concerns that the United States has. Turkey, which obviously is a neighbor - a direct neighbor of Iran - will be among the first to feel the effects of Iran with a nuclear weapon. Turkey - he reiterated that Turkey, just like the United States, will not tolerate a nuclear-capable Iran.
We are discussing what is the best way forward based on a shared strategic view. And we will continue to talk to Turkey in the coming days, and Turkey will have to make a judgment when the Security Council resolution is put forward to a vote.
QUESTION: Do you think the effort to bring about robust sanctions against Iran are complicated by the raid on the ship?
MR. CROWLEY: No.
QUESTION: Obviously, Turkey would also be among the first to feel the effects if you pursue sanctions against Iran. The foreign minister talked at length about that this morning. Did he ask the Secretary for any assurances about that or are you offering him any?
MR. CROWLEY: Well, we have talked at length to Turkey as we have worked through the details of the Security Council resolution. And we certainly fully understand that Turkey's economy has - is linked to Iran's. And I think we - we think we've taken that into account in terms of crafting a resolution that the international community can support.
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