Iran Warns It Might Hide Its Nukes

(CBS/AP)  Iran's top nuclear negotiator warned Tuesday the country would halt all cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog if the Security Council imposes sanctions, and warned it might go further and hide its nuclear program if the West takes other "harsh measures."

The statements by Ali Larijani were Iran's strongest defiance yet of a Friday deadline, set by the Security Council, for Iran to suspend enrichment of uranium, a process that can produce fuel for nuclear reactors or material for warheads.

"Military action against Iran will not end our program," Larijani said Tuesday, speaking at a conference on the energy program. "If you take harsh measures, we will hide this program. If you use the language of force, you should not expect us to act transparently."

The comments surprised many of the international delegates at the conference, reports CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer.

"That is a sign of a confidence here that may be misplaced — that they can both withstand sanctions and even a military strike," said conference delegate Rosemary Hollis of the Royal Institute of International Affairs.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice responded by saying Iran's statements were further isolating it from the international community. "Iranians can threaten, but they are deepening their own isolation," she said in Athens, where she was meeting with officials.

The United States has not threatened military action and has said it is pursuing diplomatic option. But President George W. Bush has said all options, including military options, remain on the table.

But these new threats are not likely to have much of an effect, said CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk from the U.N. on Tuesday.

"Iran's threats to hide its nuclear program are unlikely to have as much of an impact as the fear that Iran will misuse its nuclear technology and the soaring price of oil that has resulted from the crisis," Falk said. "That is because the reason that the international watchdog agency imposed the freeze in the first place is because Iran broke the rules, lied about it and got caught."

Larijani's comments came a day after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad boldly predicted the Security Council would not impose sanctions and warned he was thinking about dropping out of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

Also Tuesday, Iran's top leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said during a meeting with the president of Sudan that Iran is ready to transfer its nuclear technology to neighboring countries. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir said last month that his impoverished, wartorn country was considering trying to create a nuclear program to generate electrical power.

Such a transfer would be legal as long as it is between signatory-states to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and as long as the International Atomic Energy Agency that monitors the treaty was informed of the transfer.

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