Remarks by Department Spokesperson Ian Kelley on the Latest IAEA Report on Iran (Excerpts)

November 17, 2009

Weapon Program: 

  • Nuclear

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QUESTION: Iran. One, do you have anything more to say about the latest IAEA report than what was in the talking points that were put out yesterday?

MR. KELLY: Well, we continue to stay in close contact with the IAEA and with our P-5+1 colleagues. The recent report, as we noted yesterday, underscores that Iran still refuses to comply fully with its international nuclear obligations. Instead, it's expanded its work in uranium enrichment and heavy water-related activities. And it's conducted a multiyear effort to construct a clandestine enrichment facility in contravention of the UN Security Council requirements and IAEA obligations.

The Director General verified that the Qom facility was built to accommodate approximately 3,000 centrifuges, although no centrifuges, of course, had been installed. The report notes that the purpose of the facility and the chronology of its construction require clarification from Iran. The report further notes that Iran's failure to inform the IAEA of the facility near Qom is inconsistent with its safeguard obligations, and underlines the fact that its failure to declare this facility reduces confidence about the absence of other nuclear facilities that have not been declared to the IAEA.

And finally, the report notes that for over a year, Iran has refused the IAEA's request to provide substantive explanations regarding its past work to develop a nuclear warhead and other possible military dimensions to its nuclear program.

QUESTION: Okay. So where does that leave you?

MR. KELLY: Well, we - as I said, we are consulting with our P-5+1 contacts. We are still waiting for a formal response to the proposal that the IAEA put forward to enrich its LEU outside of Iran. We hope that they will provide a formal response, but the failure to provide a response to this and its overall noncompliance, as laid out in the IAEA agreement, frankly doesn't give us a whole lot of confidence that they will respond formally. But we are still not prepared to close the door on that possibility right now.

QUESTION: It doesn't appear as though President Obama has made much headway with either the Russians or the Chinese in terms of another - more sanctions. Are you prepared to go it alone?

MR. KELLY: Well, I'm not sure I agree with you on that. I haven't seen exactly what the Chinese have said recently, but I read what President Medvedev said after the meeting in Singapore with the President, and he made --

QUESTION: Yeah. I mean, you guys have been spinning that up ever since he spoke at the UN, and it's just - you know, I'm sorry, it's --

MR. KELLY: But they - Matt, they have gone along with us all along. I mean, we share the same goal.

QUESTION: No. In fact, I was sitting in Moscow --

MR. KELLY: They've signed on --

QUESTION: -- when Lavrov specifically said that even the threat of sanctions is not helpful and was - it was counterproductive.

MR. KELLY: Well, I heard President Medvedev say that there are a number of options that we have to look into, and if there - if they do fail to engage, we're going to have to look at some of these options.

QUESTION: Okay. But you were in the same room, weren't you, when Lavrov --

MR. KELLY: I was, yeah.

QUESTION: -- said that it was counterproductive to even talk about the idea?

MR. KELLY: Yeah. That was about a month ago, too.

QUESTION: Yeah, it was.

MR. KELLY: And this is what --

QUESTION: And look where - and what's happened since? Nothing.

MR. KELLY: Well, I mean, it was before the - this IAEA report. It was before we had the proposal on - to enrich their lower - their low-enriched uranium outside of the country, and the apparent failure to provide a formal response. So I think the frustration is mounting.

QUESTION: So -

MR. KELLY: And I wouldn't take something that was said a month ago as necessarily applicable to today.

QUESTION: Well, is there any headway on having a new meeting on this issue?

MR. KELLY: A new meeting with Iran, you mean?

QUESTION: With Iran, without Iran?

MR. KELLY: As I say, we continue to consult with our contacts in the P-5+1 context, and I don't have anything to announce at this time. But I mean, clearly, we're going to have to review the bidding, given the fact that the - that Iran has not provided us with a formal response. As I said before, we're not prepared to actually pronounce that they have rejected the deal because they haven't formally rejected the deal yet. But we'll continue to consult with them.

Yeah.

QUESTION: Is there any timeline on what you would say that you've just decided amounts to a formal rejection, or can we spin this out for weeks and weeks and weeks?

MR. KELLY: Well, I'm not sure. No, I - we always hesitate to give a formal deadline. But I would - I mean, I would just say that time is very short.

QUESTION: Well, it has already been spun out for weeks and weeks and weeks. And all that - all the time, what has Iran been doing in terms of enrichment for the past - since the October 1st - or since the offer was allegedly accepted by them?

MR. KELLY: Yeah. Well, I think that's -

QUESTION: Are they or are they not continuing to enrich?

MR. KELLY: I believe that they are, and I think that that -

QUESTION: Right.

MR. KELLY: - was pointed out in the IAEA report.

QUESTION: Well, exactly. So I'm - just, you know, at what point do you - is too much too much?

MR. KELLY: Well, that point will come, but we're not at it yet.

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