Interview with Jack Conaty,

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QUESTION: Madame Secretary, you repeatedly said Russia is just as concerned as we are that Iran not get nuclear weapons. So why do you suppose, or what do you suppose is behind their opposition to strong sanctions?

SECRETARY RICE: The Russians clearly do not want Iran to a get nuclear weapon. After all, Iran is more in their neighborhood than ours and so, I believe them when they say that. We have a disagreement at this point about the potential efficacy of sanctions, but I have not heard the Russians rule out anything, should Iranian behavior continue in this direction. In fact, we have had good meetings with the Russians and I think that we will see more countries starting to consider what sanctions may be necessary against Iran if the Iranians continue in this behavior that is really escalating the situation.

QUESTION: Is there a particular type of sanction that Russia opposes?

SECRETARY RICE: No, we have not had a discussion of that kind, but everybody jumps at the idea that we want them to have sanctions and that worries everyone. What I think you are really seeing is that there is a lack of understanding of how full the range of options could be. We have used (inaudible). We have used political sanctions against countries. There are financial sanctions against countries. There are many possibilities, but I am quite certain that when the Security Council meets at the end of the month or early next month, if the Iranians continue this behavior, then we're going to have to take some kind of action.

QUESTION: A second question. Has the IAEA or the United States been able to verify that Iran has, in fact, enriched uranium on a limited scale?

SECRETARY RICE: We have not had verification that the Iranians have enriched uranium to the 3.5 percent that they said, but we have no reason to doubt that either. It's just that I don't think there's been a verification at this point.

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