Remarks by Assistant Secretary Philip Crowley on Iran and E.U. Support for Sanctions (Excerpts)

May 7, 2010

Weapon Program: 

  • Nuclear

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In a similar vein, last night our deputy perm rep in New York, Ambassador Alex Wolff, participated along with other representatives from the Security Council nations in a dinner hosted by the Iranian foreign minister. It was a frank and professional exchange. Members of the Security Council pressed the Iranian Government to promptly meet its international obligations. Several members of the Council, including the U.S., pointed out the significant flaws and shortcomings in Iran's approach. During the course of the conversation, Foreign Minister Mottaki focused on the Iranian counterproposal to the Tehran research reactor, which deviates in significant ways from the balanced IAEA proposal that Iran agreed to and then walked away from last October. But we see this as yet another missed opportunity by Iran to meet its international obligations.

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QUESTION: On the Iran - the Secretary's call, you said that they updated themselves on the current status of the negotiations. What is the current status of the negotiations?

MR. CROWLEY: We continue to work on the specifics of a UN resolution. There's still work to do and we will - we'll be moving that forward in the coming weeks.

QUESTION: I'm sorry, the coming what?

MR. CROWLEY: Weeks.

QUESTION: But I presume, or it appears, that the people that she spoke to are all - she and the people that she spoke to all agree, correct, on what should be done? So I'm just curious as to - I mean, there is --

MR. CROWLEY: This conversation did not get into the specifics of option A, B, C, D. It was more a case of where do we stand in the specific work of building a resolution but mostly comparing notes on various consultations that the United States and other countries have had with those who will be in a position to evaluate the resolution once it's formally presented to the Security Council.

QUESTION: With other members of the - with the nonpermanent members of the Security Council?

QUESTION: Were China and Russia on the call or not?

MR. CROWLEY: No.

QUESTION: Why? Why not? Just --

MR. CROWLEY: Well, this was a quad plus one call.

QUESTION: (Off-mike.) Quad plus one?

(Laughter.)

MR. CROWLEY: Well, I mean, this was a call with our European counterparts. We do have these calls on a regular basis or contacts on a regular basis. China and Russia are not part of that component. I mean, that said, last night, all of the countries in the Security Council, including Russia, including China, joined in pressing Iran to change its course. So we're very comfortable with where we are in terms of our interaction with the - within the P-5+1.

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QUESTION: And then one other thing, if I may, on this. There is a report that the - your plan is to put forward the resolution to the full Security Council next week. Is that correct? Have you set such a - do you plan to put it forward next week?

MR. CROWLEY: That report is not correct.

QUESTION: Thank you.

QUESTION: Is it really - do you think the resolution - another resolution is going to work against Iran - you have done in the past? Don't you think that Iran is buying more and more time, whatever that is?

MR. CROWLEY: Well, this is precisely, Goyal, something that does concern us, that this week, Iran had an opportunity with President Ahmadinejad here, with Foreign Minister Mottaki here, and we literally heard nothing new. They are not in compliance with their IAEA obligations. They have not come forward with a meaningful or acceptable counter proposal on the TRR, something that we had offered last fall, in order to build confidence.

Ambassador Wolf and others made clear to Iran last night that they've had the opportunity to build confidence, and their actions and words since then have done exactly the opposite. So we are in a position where we're working closely with others in the Security Council. We're working on this resolution. And we look forward to a very strong, united international statement that tells Iran it's got to change course and meet its fundamental obligations.

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QUESTION: Okay. You have heard something new from him this week, though. Ahmadinejad talked a lot this week - it's apparently for the first time - about how if this sanctions resolution comes forward, all ties will be cut with Iran, Obama is going to regret it. We're - I mean, he seemed to have this very strong message this week of threat, saying that the United States would actually - our experiments, our efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq and in the Palestinian territories would be destroyed if we passed this resolution. He had some pretty strong words about that. I mean, does the Administration - what's the reaction? Is it - you know, is it giving anybody pause?

MR. CROWLEY: No. I mean, it is our view that absent a strong statement and significant pressure, Iran is not going to engage significantly. We have offered, clearly, a path of engagement, and it has been Iran that has failed to reciprocate. So Iran is isolated and unless it comes forward and answers the questions that the international community has, it will have - it will face additional pressure and additional isolation.

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