Weapon Program:
- Nuclear
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QUESTION: The White House says they're going ahead with sanctions against Iran following this recent -- well, this report today from the IAEA.
MR. MCCORMACK: Right.
QUESTION: So how quickly can you do that and who can you get on board?
MR. MCCORMACK: Well, the new Security Council resolution about -- you know, we would have hoped that by now there would have been a new Security Council resolution, but there isn't. The commitment that we had back in September when the Secretary met up in the -- on the margins of the UN General Assembly with her P-5+1 ministerial counterparts was that we would take a look at the IAEA report, which is now out today, as well as a report from Mr. Solana regarding his discussions with the Iranians.
Thus far, the Iranians have not taken up the P-5+1 on the offer of negotiations. They are continuing to operate centrifuges. They are continuing - continuing to expand those operations, as is noted in the IAEA report. So I can't -- I wouldn't expect that Mr. Solana's report is going to be -- do anything but note the fact the Iranians have continued to defy the international community. But I'm sure that he will have more to say upon -- have more to say on that in the days and weeks ahead.
The IAEA report speaks for itself. There were two things that caught my eye in there, and that is that the IAEA report talks about Iranian cooperation being reactive rather than proactive. And all that tells me is that the Iranians only respond to pressure, and when they feel like they're cornered they're going to try to make some really sort of surface-level concessions to the international community, give the appearance of trying to cooperate with the international community.
Now, they have answered some questions about their past activities, but these are partial answers. I don't think the world is prepared to give Iran partial credit on the test of -- involving whether or not they're developing nuclear weapons.
Also, it talks about -- the report talks about the fact the IAEA has a diminishing view into the current activities of Iran. So while the Iranians are trying to turn everybody's attention to their partial answers on some of their past activities, the ability of the IAEA to gain insight into what they're currently doing on the ground in Iran with respect to their nuclear program is starting to diminish. And that certainly is troubling. It's troubling to the rest of the world, and certainly the members of the Security Council and P-5+1 are going to take note of the fact that Iran is continuing with its uranium enrichment program, in defiance of what the international community has asked Iran to do, and that is to suspend those activities.
QUESTION: The report also says that Iran has been generally honest in dealings with the IAEA.
MR. MCCORMACK: Well, okay, so again, it gets back to the point when they're feeling cornered, when they feel as though the pressure is on, they're going to try to make some concessions in terms of answering some questions. Like I said, partial credit doesn't cut it when you're talking about issues of whether or not Iran is developing a nuclear weapon.
QUESTION: Well, do you --
MR. MCCORMACK: And that doesn't even -- that talks about past activity. That doesn't even talk about what they're doing today.
QUESTION: But notwithstanding your idea -- or refusal to give them partial credit, do you have any reason to believe that the answers that -- that the limited number of answers that they have provided are truthful?
MR. MCCORMACK: I don't have any reason to dispute the answers that they have given. I can't confirm for you -- I'm not in a position to confirm for you the veracity of the answers that they have given. But I'm not in a position to call them into question as well.
QUESTION: What are the next steps now for -- when is the -- Solana's report expected and what do you expect for the next steps?
MR. MCCORMACK: I expect that -- you know, he can talk about the specific timing, but probably, you know, a matter of days.
QUESTION: And then the P-5+1 or --
MR. MCCORMACK: Well, we're currently working to schedule a P-5+1 political directors meeting to talk about the elements and specific language of a resolution.
QUESTION: But you're having trouble getting the Chinese to cooperate?
MR. MCCORMACK: Well, I think the way I would put it is we look for the Chinese to play an effective role in not only scheduling the meeting of the P-5+1 political directors but also play an effective role in coming up with the language and the contents of that resolution.
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