6 World Powers OK Pact On Iran Nukes

U.S., France, U.K., Germany, Russia, China Agree On A Package Of Incentives And Penalties

(CBS/AP) 

The United States and other countries accuse Iran of wanting the technology to make weapons-grade uranium for the core of warheads. Iran denies that, saying it only wants to generate power.

U.S. President George W. Bush warned earlier Thursday that the standoff is headed for the U.N. Security Council if Tehran continues to refuse to halt uranium enrichment.

"We'll see whether or not that is the firm position of their government," Mr. Bush said after a meeting with his Cabinet at the White House. "If they continue their obstinance, if they continue to say to the world `We really don't care what your opinion is,' then the world is going to act in concert."

There had been mounting pressure from European allies, and the U.S. announcement on possible talks was also linked to U.S. expectations that Russia and China might support sanctions or other harsh measures if new talks fail to persuade Iran to permanently abandon nuclear efforts that the West fears could lead to a bomb, European diplomats said.

"The United States is going to take a leadership position in solving this issue," Mr. Bush said of the decision to engage Tehran if it meets the conditions on enrichment.

The offer to talk should strip Iran and some U.S. partners of the argument that the hard-line U.S. stance was an obstacle, or that Washington was not willing to try every means to resolve the impasse peacefully, U.S. officials said.

The United States has had no diplomatic ties with Iran and few contacts at all with its government since Islamic radicals took over the U.S. Embassy in 1979 and held diplomats there for more than a year.

French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said Thursday that Western powers that squabbled over Iraq will not repeat that mistake in their dealings with Tehran.

"It is the unity of the international community that will make all the difference," said Villepin, who as foreign minister in 2003 argued against the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States was not offering full diplomatic relations with Iran and would not swear off ever using military action to stop what the U.S. contends is a rogue program to build a nuclear weapon.

"This is not a grand bargain," Rice said. "What we're talking about here is an effort to enhance the chances for a successful negotiated solution to the Iranian nuclear problem."

Uranium enrichment can lead either to a bomb or to nuclear power production. Iran, which says it wants only to generate power, has so far insisted that it won't take any deal that involves giving up that technology.

At the United Nations Thursday, a study led by former U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix called for outlawing nuclear weapons and reviving global cooperation on disarmament including security guarantees to curb the nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea.

"Hans Blix pointed his finger today at Iran, Israel, North Korea and the U.S., with a plan to back the world off nuclear brinksmanship," said Falk from the U.N. "His comprehensive plan to reduce weapons and bring about a nuclear free Middle East carries particular weight because he appears in hindsight to have been right in his assessments of pre-war Iraq."

The two-year probe by the independent Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission concluded that as long as any nuclear, chemical and biological arms remain in any country's arsenal, "there is a high risk that they will one day be used by design or accident" which would be "catastrophic."