Iran Warns It Might Hide Its Nukes

Official Says Iran Will Halt Cooperation If U.N. Imposes Sanctions

(CBS/AP) 
On Tuesday, Larijani said flatly that Iran would not abide by the Friday deadline set by the Security Council.

"If you take the first step wrong, the wrong trend will continue. We welcome any logical proposal to resolve the issue. They just need to say why should we suspend," Larijani said.

The watchdog agency's chief spokesman, Marc Vidricaire, said Tuesday the agency would not comment on Iran's words. Vidricaire said the agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency, planned no public statements ahead of director Mohamed ElBaradei's report to the Security Council and the agency's board, expected by week's end.

The United States and European allies are expected to press for binding measures against Iran when the Security Council begins the next round of review of the Iranian case as soon as next week.

Although Rice has recently raised the likelihood of pressing for sanctions, she did not go that far Tuesday when taking questions after a meeting with her Greek counterpart, saying only that the Security Council must now issue something more concrete than last month's "presidential statement," which gave Iran 30 days to comply.

A U.S. diplomat said Tuesday that the IAEA would find Iran was still failing to comply with demands to suspend uranium enrichment by Friday's deadline. That would set up a push for a United Nations resolution that could expose Iran to "targeted sanctions," said Gregory L. Schulte, ambassador to the IAEA in Vienna.

China and Russia, which are permanent, veto-wielding members of the council, oppose sanctions and both called on Tuesday for more negotiations.

"We see no alternative to the negotiations process," Russia's defense minister, Sergei Ivanov, was quoted as saying by Russia's Interfax news agency while in Beijing for a regional anti-terror meeting.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang called on all parties "to show flexibility," and said the international community should not abandon its efforts for a peaceful settlement.

Tuesday's comments were not the first time Iran has threatened to curb cooperation: Several months ago, Tehran announced it would not honor the U.N. nuclear watchdog's so-called "additional protocol," which gave the IAEA increased and more thorough inspection powers.

But Larijani said this time the country would suspend its cooperation altogether, if sanctions were imposed.

"How are you going to prevent our nuclear activities by imposing sanctions? If U.N. Security Council sanctions are to be imposed on Iran, we will definitely suspend our cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency," Larijani said. "They (the Western countries on the IAEA board) have to understand they cannot resolve this issue through force."

He also hinted that sanctions or even what he called coercive language from the Security Council would lead Iran to speed up its nuclear activities.

"You can't set a framework through coercion. If you try to do it by force, our response will be to break such a framework," he said.

Ahmadinejad on Monday also renewed his criticism of Israel, calling it a "fake regime" that cannot continue to exist.

"Iran's threatening statements about Israel and its defiance are part of the reason that Security Council members are united about sending a message to Iran about its nuclear program," said CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk at the United Nations. "But as the deadline at the U.N. approaches, action on sanctions appears unlikely."

The United States, Britain and France maintain that Iran wants uranium for atomic bombs, which would violate the nonproliferation treaty. Iran denies the charge and says its nuclear program is for peaceful electricity generation only.

Ahmadinejad appears to be banking on support from China and Russia to dissuade Washington from pressing a sanctions vote.

The IAEA says it has since found no direct evidence of an arms program, but it also says the Iranians have not been fully forthcoming.

After repeated attempts to resolve the issue through negotiations, the IAEA reported Iran to the Security Council for noncompliance. The council then gave Iran until Friday to suspend uranium enrichment.