Ambassador Warns India On Nuke Deal

Says If India Doesn't Side With U.S. On Iran, Deal Could 'Die'

(AP)  A landmark nuclear deal between India and the United States could "die in Congress" if New Delhi refuses to vote in favor of hauling Iran before the U.N. Security Council over the Islamic republic's atomic program, the American ambassador said Wednesday.

A week before a meeting on Iran's nuclear ambitions at the International Atomic Energy Agency, U.S. Ambassador David Mulford said that if India does not vote to refer Tehran to the U.N. Security Council, "the effect on members of the U.S. Congress ... will be devastating."

"I think the Congress will simply stop considering the matter," Mulford said in an interview with the Press Trust of India news agency. Congress must approve the deal.

The pact, seen as a cornerstone of the emerging alliance between India and the United States, "will die in the Congress, not because the administration would want it," he said.

Mulford's comments were unusually frank in directly linking the nuclear deal and India's stance on Iran, something that both American and Indian officials have avoided in the past.

The U.S. Embassy confirmed that Mulford was accurately quoted, and spokesman David Kennedy said: "The Ambassador just wanted to give his honest opinion on how he thought the U.S. Congress would react to such a scenario."

A referral to the Security Council could lead to sanctions against Iran, which the United States and European powers fear could use its nuclear program to develop atomic weapons. Tehran insists its program is only for peaceful civilian use.

European countries believe they have enough votes at the IAEA, which will hold an emergency board session on Feb. 2, to haul Iran before the Security Council. But they are seeking support from Russia, China and key developing nations, including India.

Although New Delhi agrees with Washington that Iran should not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons, it has pushed a softer line, urging negotiations with Tehran.

After the interview, India stood by its stance that the two issues should remain separate.

"We categorically reject any attempt to link (Iran) to the proposed Indo-U.S. agreement on civil nuclear energy cooperation, which stands on its own merits," Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna said in statement.