Bush Suspicious Of Iran Nuke Labs

(CBS/AP)  President Bush said Tuesday that he's deeply suspicious about Iran's nuclear ambitions, but that the country's new leader has indicated a willingness to negotiate.

Mr. Bush said he got word Tuesday that the newly elected president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said he is willing to negotiate with other nations amid concerns that his country is developing nuclear weapons.

"Just as I was walking here, I received word that the new president said he was willing to get back to the table," Mr. Bush told reporters at a brief question-and-answer session at his Texas ranch.

Mr. Bush said that if Iran does not cooperate, United Nations sanctions are "a potential consequence."

"We'll work with our friends on steps forward, on ways to deal with the Iranians if they so choose to ignore the demands of the world," he said.

President Bush's comments came a day after Tehran restarted some uranium conversion activities at its nuclear plant at the central Iranian city of Isfahan.

Britain, France and Germany have been trying to persuade Iran to drop its uranium enrichment program and related activities in return for incentives. Tehran rejected their latest offer last weekend.

"We're very deeply suspicious of their desires and call upon our friends in Europe ... to lead the diplomatic effort to convince the Iranians to give up their nuclear ambitions," Mr. Bush said after a meeting with his economic advisers at his Texas ranch.

And as the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency held an emergency meeting Tuesday to assess Iran's resumption of uranium conversion, an Iranian dissident said Tehran has manufactured about 4,000 centrifuges capable of enriching uranium to weapons grade.

Alireza Jafarzadeh, who helped uncover nearly two decades of covert nuclear activity in 2002, told The Associated Press the centrifuges — which he said are unknown to the IAEA — are ready to be installed at Iran's nuclear facility in Natanz.

The meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation board of governors came a day after Iran restarted some activities at its nuclear plant at the central Iranian city of Isfahan.

Meanwhile, diplomats in Vienna said the IAEA's board of governors was likely to issue a resolution by Thursday urging Tehran to again suspend its nuclear activities.

"Iran must not be allowed to violate its international commitments and must not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons," said Gregory Schulte, U.S. envoy to the IAEA.

But there was no talk of reporting Iran to the U.N. Security Council, which could impose economic or political sanctions on the regime, according to a Western diplomat. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the debate within the closed-door meeting, which was adjourned until Wednesday afternoon.

"Delay can be a good negotiating method," said CBS News Foreign Affairs Analyst Pamela Falk. "When the objective is to keep Iran on board with the Non- Proliferation Treaty but to stop any resumption of uranium enrichment for weapons development."

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