Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed Western threats of more sanctions, saying, “We in Iran are in a position to meet our own requirements.” Speaking on Wednesday to NBC News interviewer Andrea Mitchell, who wore a scarf over her head for the occasion, the Iranian leader said that Iran saw no reason to allow further visits by United Nations atomic inspectors.
At the same time, the United States, Britain and France expressed their growing concern over Iran’s nuclear weapons program and development of ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons. The three countries, as well as Russia and China, called on Iran to return to the negotiating table for talks on its nuclear program. China's representative in the UN even said that "new opportunities have emerged for restarting dialogue” – though he did not elaborate.
The UN Security Council has imposed four rounds of sanctions against Iran so far, with the most recent occurring three months ago. Iran continues, however, to refuse to suspend uranium enrichment, allow further visits by arms inspectors, or start negotiations with the Security Council members. The Western countries have stopped short of threatening outright a new round of sanctions.
Ahmadinejad is scheduled to attend next week’s U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Yukiya Amano, said he cannot confirm Iran’s claim that all its nuclear activities are peaceful. Amano said that Iran cooperates only “selectively” with the UN nuclear watchdog group and has rejected several of its inspectors.
U.S. Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice said there is "clear evidence that Iran is refusing to take any step to begin resolving concerns that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons, and continues actions that [actually] deepen these concerns."
France's UN Ambassador Gerard Araud said that though Iran claims its nuclear program is geared for peaceful use, "Iran's nuclear program has no credible civilian application."