AP
Powell Cautions Israel on Iran Action
Date: Wed, Oct 27, 2004
By BARRY SCHWEID, AP Diplomatic Writer
WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) advised Israel on Wednesday that diplomacy and not force is the way to deal with Iran's nuclear weapons program.
Two decades ago, Israeli warplanes destroyed an Iraqi reactor to prevent Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) from developing nuclear weapons.
With Iran now moving in that direction, Powell said "there was a lot of speculation and horror stories and other stories about what this might lead to in the way of crisis, and part of that speculation is that the Israelis might do something or not do something."
"I have no information on that," Powell said on CNBC. "And I think the whole world, to include Israel, is trying to find a diplomatic and peaceful solution to this problem."
Powell said Iran had a program that could produce nuclear weapons, but he did not think it could be done overnight or in the next several months.
"It's going to take them time," he said.
In talks Wednesday in Vienna, Iran's delegates insisted in a meeting with British, French and German officials on the right to enrich uranium, which is a key ingredient to making nuclear weapons.
And in Iran, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ruled out any long-term suspension of the program.
Powell said it was time to take the issue to the U.N. Security Council, which could impose economic pressure on Iran. "It is not in the interests of the region or the world for Iran to be moving in this direction," he said.
The State Department spokesman, Richard Boucher, said at the daily media briefing that taking Iran before the U.N. Security Council remains the U.S. position even with the talks in Vienna.
"At this point, we have not seen anything different," he said. "But in terms of Iranian commitments or behavior, we will have to see how the meeting went."
The Europeans were believed to be offering Iran fuel and trade if it halted its nuclear programs.
SOURCE
Search Yahoo for original story (if it's a story from Yahoo) if they've since changed it from the one I linked to (this happens quite a bit lately and I don't have the time anymore to hunt the original story down) :
FAIR USE NOTICE
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.