U.S. Statement to Board of Governors
Saturday, September 24, 2005
I agree with my colleagues that the authority, integrity, and credibility of the IAEA are at stake. This is why it is important, that after years of reports of safeguard failures and breaches, the Board has now found what we’ve known for two years: That Iran is in noncompliance with its safeguards obligations.
Under the IAEA Statute, this requires a report to the UN Security Council.
The Board has also found that the nature of Iran’s nuclear activities, combined with its long history of deception and concealment, gives rise to questions within the competence of the Security Council. We are concerned that Iran’s activities pose an increasing threat regionally and to the nonproliferation regime, and thus to international peace and security. This is indeed a special case.
Iran’s activities, its patterns of deception, and its confrontational approach are of great concern to the world community.
We have again called on Iran to stop the activities that give the world such concern, give the IAEA the transparency that is so overdue, and negotiate on the basis of the EU3 offer that is so generous.
We hope that Iran heeds our call, and rather than making more threats and parading more Shahab-3 missiles, chooses a course of cooperation and negotiation.
Our goal is a peaceful, diplomatic settlement that brings benefit to the Iranian people and gives the world confidence that Iran’s activities are purely peaceful.
We hope that Iran’s leaders will make the same choice.
