By Saul Hudson, Washington
April 20, 2006
US PRESIDENT George Bush has refused to rule out nuclear strikes against Iran if diplomacy fails to curb the Islamic republic's atomic ambitions.
His stand comes following America's failure to secure international support for targeted sanctions against Iran.
Mr Bush said he would discuss Iran's nuclear activities with Chinese President Hu Jintao, who has been cool towards sanctions, during his US visit this week.
Asked if his options included planning for a nuclear strike, Mr Bush said: "All options are on the table. We want to solve this issue diplomatically and we're working hard to do so."
But a meeting of major powers in Moscow ended without consensus despite strong US pressure for international sanctions. Washington believes Iran is trying to build bombs but Tehran says it is only developing nuclear energy.
The meeting of deputy foreign ministers of the United Nations Security Council's permanent members  the US, Britain, France, China and Russia  plus Germany, was called after Tehran said last week it had enriched uranium and was aiming for industrial-scale production.
US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns argued that sanctions should be imposed on Iran, but Russia and China are resisting and the parties came to no agreement, a State Department spokesman said.
The US, which already enforces its own sweeping sanctions on Iran, wants the Security Council to be ready for strong diplomatic action, including measures such as a freeze on assets and curbs on visas for Iranian officials.
Tehran had vowed to continue its pursuit of nuclear technology regardless of the meeting's outcome. "Whatever the result of this meeting might be, Iran will not abandon its rights," Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said before the talks ended.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is due to report at the end of the month on whether Iran is complying with UN demands that it halt uranium enrichment.
Iran's defiance of world pressure to halt its program has driven oil prices to a record $US72.64 ($A98.34) a barrel, raising fears of a cut in supplies from the world's fourth biggest crude exporter.
Speculation about a US attack has mounted since this month's report in New Yorker magazine, which said the Bush Administration may use tactical nuclear weapons to knock out Iran's underground nuclear sites.
China, which sent an envoy to Iran to try to defuse the stand-off, repeated a call for a negotiated solution.
"We hope all sides will maintain restraint and flexibility," a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said in Beijing.
Russia restated its opposition to punitive action.
While refusing to drop its right to enrich uranium for peaceful use, Iran has offered to work with the IAEA.
The UN nuclear watchdog says it has been unable to verify that Iran's nuclear program is purely civilian but has found no hard proof of efforts to build atomic weapons.
IAEA inspectors are due in Iran tomorrow to visit nuclear sites, including one at Natanz where Iran says it has enriched uranium to 3.5 per cent, the level used in nuclear power plants.
REUTERS
George W. Bush


El presidente de los Estados Unidos George W. Bush no descarta el uso de ataques nucleares contra Irán si sus “esfuerzos diplomáticos” fracasan en convencer a ese país de que abandone sus ambiciones de convertirse en una potencia nuclear.

Irán afirma que su deseo de adquirir tecnología nuclear tiene propósitos pacíficos y está enfocada a la generación de energía eléctrica.

Bush aprovechará la visita del mandatario chino Hu Jintao para discutir las sanciones contra la república islámica.

Cuando a Bush se le preguntó si planeaba un ataque nuclear respondió diciendo que “todas las opciones estaban sobre la mesa”. Sin embargo, añadió "queremos resolver este asunto de manera diplomática y estamos trabajando con vigor para hacerlo".

Las declaraciones del presidente estadounidense suceden después de fallidos intentos de obtener apoyo para llevar al Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU una propuesta para aplicar sanciones a Irán.

La especulación respecto al uso de armas nucleares contra Irán fue hecha por el periodista Seymour Hersh en la revista The New Yorker.

El presidente iraní, por su parte, respondió a esa información con el anuncio de que estaba entrenando un número de 40.000 kamikazes voluntarios para llevar a cabo misiones suicidas contra Estados Unidos y Gran Bretaña.

Las Fuerzas Armadas Iraníes poseen alrededor de 750,000 soldados profesionales y más de 10,000,000 reservistas. Recientemente, la Armada Iraní finalizó el desarrollo del poderoso misil submarino Hoot, actualmente el torpedo más veloz del mundo.

Ahmadineyad además afirmó que no se dejará intimidar por Estados Unidos y que no renunciará a su derecho de desarrollar tecnología nuclear.