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QUESTION: Looking at Iran, I suppose that's the less pressing problem, given your own intelligence assessment that they do not have a nuclear weapons program at the moment.

SECRETARY RICE: Well, the Iranian problem continues to be a pressing one, because what the National Intelligence Estimate talked about was their efforts in weaponization and those apparently have been halted. But there are two other very important parts to a nuclear weapons program. One is to get the fissile material that one uses in a bomb. And that's why enrichment and reprocessing, perfecting the process of enrichment and reprocessing, has to be stopped in Iran.

Once you solve that engineering problem, you can go to fissile material that is pure enough to be able to build a nuclear weapon. And of course, there's the missile program, which continues unabated. And so there is still great urgency concerning Iran and we have the right strategy. We have a diplomatic strategy that provides one path if Iran is prepared to suspend its enrichment and reprocessing and that's a path of negotiation. It's a path, Jonathan, where I've said we would reverse 28 years of American policy. I would sit down with my counterpart, anyplace, anytime, anywhere to talk about anything. They only have to do what two Security Council resolutions told them to do. The other path, though, if they're unwilling to accede to the demands of the international community will be to continue to have isolation.

QUESTION: Well, they're not having any isolation because Russia has just shipped nuclear fuel to Iran.

SECRETARY RICE: Well, the Russians --

QUESTION: -- is essentially rewarding what you'd consider bad behavior.

SECRETARY RICE: The Russians are shipping fuel for a civil nuclear plant, which is the way that Iran should get its civil nuclear power.

QUESTION: And it's rewarding their behavior in your view.

SECRETARY RICE: Well, in my view, and I've been very clear on this -- in our view, the Russians say that the contractual reasons they need to deliver the fuel. They say that they -- and we know that they have a very strict fuel take-back provision for that fuel. That's the way that Iran should get its civil nuclear power. And if, in fact, now Russia is ready and willing to go forward, Iran should take this opportunity to forgo enrichment and reprocessing, get their --

QUESTION: Why are they going to do that then? Why are they going to do that, because the Russians are already giving them nuclear fuel? They can carry on their enrichment process.

SECRETARY RICE: Well, the way that they're -- the reason that they should do that is at the same time, they are experiencing difficulties in the international financial system. We're going to continue to sanction their banks that are engaged in illicit activities in international financial institutions. We're going to continue to seek sanctions through the Security Council.

QUESTION: Well, it doesn't look like Russia's going to be onboard, does it?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, no, we and Russia have had for some time - at every turn when we've done one of the Security Council resolutions, we've had tactical differences about the timing and about the content. We've always overcome those tactical differences to pass a Security Council resolution. I don't think it will be any different this time. We'll negotiate a Security Council resolution. It may not be the Security Council resolution that we, the United States, would do if we were not negotiating one, but it will be one that, again, shows to the Iranians that they're in a class, in a club, that nobody should want to be in; that's a Chapter 7 club. And when you're in that club of Chapter 7 states, financial institutions don't really want to deal with you, companies are concerned about investment. And Iran is experiencing trouble in the international financial system. It's experiencing a decline in export credits. It's experiencing problems getting investment in its refining capability and that's only going to get worse because the reputational and investment risk of dealing with Iran are going up.

QUESTION: You essentially are saying there is going to be no change in U.S. policy on Iran, even though we've had this report by your own intelligence assessment that they're -- they haven't gotten a nuclear weapons program, even though Russia's continuing to supply them with nuclear fuel there's no change at all, no movement.

SECRETARY RICE: Well, what we've been concerned about all along is the enrichment and reprocessing activity, because that would allow them to get the fissile material for a bomb. That's the long pole in the tent. And by the way, I would say that what the National Intelligence Estimate raises as a question is what were they doing before 2003? The Iranians have always said, no, they didn't have a covert program. But the way that they've embraced the NIE, I assume they're embracing all of it, which means they must have had a program. So we need to know about that program. Did it -- when did it -- what was it doing when it ended or when it was suspended? How far had they gotten in progress toward weaponization? How readily restarted can it be?

It suggests to me that there are a whole 'nother set of issues now and questions that need to be asked of the Iranians and they need to come clean.

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