Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced that his country had succeeded in enriching uranium to 20% purity, which is a key step on the path to nuclear weapon
US and European officials at a gathering of the world’s top defense officials in Munich on Friday rejected statements from Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki that Teheran was “approaching a final agreement.”Mottaki attempted to revive a UN proposal in which Iran would swap enriched uranium for fuel rods to be used in its nuclear power plants, but with new Iranian conditions added to the plan.
German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg said Iran’s tactics were a “transparent play for time.”
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates sharply criticized the Iranians during a visit to Ankara, suggesting that Washington was losing its patience.“The reality is they’ve done nothing to assure the international community” or “to stop their progress toward [building] a nuclear weapon,” Gates said, “and therefore various nations need to think about whether it is time for a different tack.”“Iran is the only country in the region that has publicly declared its intent to destroy another country in the region,” Gates told reporters in Turkey, in reference to Iran’s threats to Israel. If Iran proceeds with this program “unrestrained,” there is a “real danger of proliferation” that would destabilize the region.US National Security Adviser Gen. (ret.) James Jones spoke of Iran’s continued “puzzling defiance” of Western demands that it freeze uranium enrichment.“We have not seen indications that it is willing to do so at this time,” he said.US Sen. Joe Lieberman, the influential Connecticut independent, said the time for talk was over and that the international community should pursue “tough economic sanctions to make diplomacy work.” He called Mottaki’s comments “laughable” and “intellectually dishonest.”
