U.S.: Iran Cooperation Insufficient

Deputy Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Olli Heinonen, left, and a top Iranian nuclear negotiator Javad Vaeedi attend a joint press conference after their talks in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2007. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) (Vahid Salemi - AP)

VIENNA, Austria -- Iran's willingness to answer questions about its nuclear program will not save it from new U.N. sanctions, a U.S. envoy said Wednesday, describing Tehran's new openness as an attempt to deflect "attention from its ... bomb-making capabilities."

The remark by Gregory L. Schulte, chief U.S. delegate to the International Atomic Energy Agency, drew criticism from some diplomats, who suggested that Washington was trying to derail important progress in the Iranian nuclear negotiations in its drive to impose new U.N. penalties.

The IAEA's 35-nation board will meet next month to discuss Iran, and the conflicting views suggest the meeting could see Washington and its closest allies clash with countries less hawkish on Iran.

Iran and the Vienna-based IAEA _ the U.N. nuclear watchdog _ said Tuesday they had agreed on a timetable for Tehran to respond to lingering questions over its controversial nuclear activities.

In response to the announcement, Schulte accused Tehran of "clearly trying to take the attention from its continued development of bomb-making capabilities."

"I don't think the (U.N.) Security Council will be distracted," Schulte said. "We are continuing to move forward with other members of the Security Council on a third resolution."

"If Iran's leaders truly want the world's trust, they would ... start to cooperate fully and unconditionally and suspend activities of international concern," Schulte said, alluding to council demands that Tehran freeze its uranium enrichment program and stop construction of a plutonium-producing reactor.

"These activities are not necessary for peaceful purposes, but are necessary to build a bomb," he said.

Iranian and IAEA officials did not say Tuesday whether Tehran was ready to answer all outstanding questions about its nuclear program. But Schulte suggested it was not.

"We understand there are real limitations with the plan," he said, including Iran's refusal to implement an agreement allowing IAEA inspectors broad powers to conduct inspections of suspicious sites on short notice.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos said the United States believed the council "must move forward as soon as possible with additional sanctions."

Two diplomats and a U.N. official familiar with the Iran-IAEA timetable disagreed, however, saying substantial progress was being made in lifting the veil of Iran's nuclear secrecy. All spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the issue with the media.