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Iran 'ignores nuclear deadline' Iran 'ignores nuclear deadline'
(about 1 hour later)
Iran has failed to stop enriching uranium despite a UN deadline calling for a halt to its nuclear programme, the UN nuclear agency says.Iran has failed to stop enriching uranium despite a UN deadline calling for a halt to its nuclear programme, the UN nuclear agency says.
The findings are set out in a report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), leaked to the media. The International Atomic Energy Agency said Tehran began a new round of uranium enrichment in recent days.
The IAEA is due to submit the report to the UN Security Council later. It could pave the way for sanctions. Six world powers are set to meet next week to decide on the way forward. The US is pushing for sanctions.
Earlier, Iran's president said Tehran would not yield to international pressure to halt its programme. A senior Iranian nuclear official said the IAEA report showed Tehran had been co-operating over its nuclear work.
Western powers accuse Iran of trying covertly to develop a nuclear bomb. Iran would continue enriching uranium "within the framework of research and under the control of the IAEA", Mohammad Saeedi, deputy head of Iran's atomic energy agency, said.
But Iran maintains it has a right to a nuclear programme which, it says, has a purely civilian aspect. 'Unsatisfactory'
'Not military' The US ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, said the report showed Iran "continued to pursue nuclear weapons' capability" and was violating its international obligations.
"Iran has not suspended its enrichment related activities," the IAEA report is quoted as saying. The UN Security Council must begin drawing up sanctions against Tehran now it had failed to meet the 31 August deadline, he went on.
"Iran has not addressed the long outstanding verification issues or provided the necessary transparency to remove uncertainties associated with some of its activities," the report goes on. It is time for Iran to make a choice US President George W Bush
The report says Iran started one new round of enrichment only days ahead of the 31 August UN deadline, diplomatic sources say. French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said his country deplored Iran's "unsatisfactory" response, but added that he remained "convinced that the path of dialogue should remain open".
But inspectors have found no "concrete proof" that the nuclear programme "is of a military nature," one official told journalists on condition of anonymity. Russia and China, which can both veto action at the Security Council, have previously urged patience and said they would not support severe punishments.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana is due to hold face-to-face talks with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani.
The talks will come a day before a meeting of the five permanent UN Security Council members and Germany on the issue, one diplomat told the AFP news agency.
'Consequences'
"Iran has not suspended its enrichment related activities," the IAEA report was quoted as saying.
"Iran has not addressed the long outstanding verification issues or provided the necessary transparency to remove uncertainties associated with some of its activities," the report added.
Iran will not back down an inch: Mahmoud AhmadinejadIran will not back down an inch: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
US President George W Bush warned that there would be "consequences" for Iran. The report said Iran started one new round of enrichment on 24 August, diplomatic sources say.
But inspectors have found no "concrete proof" that the nuclear programme "is of a military nature," one official told journalists.
Mr Saeedi said the report "does not satisfy us completely" but "indicates that the US's groundless claims were based on the US officials' illusions".
"This report carries no sign Iran's nuclear programme is not peaceful," he added.
US President George W Bush warned that there would be "consequences" for Iran if it did not meet the deadline.
"It is time for Iran to make a choice," he told a meeting of US veterans in Salt Lake City."It is time for Iran to make a choice," he told a meeting of US veterans in Salt Lake City.
The US has been pushing for a resolution that could impose sanctions if Iran failed to meet the deadline. But Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tehran would not yield to international pressure to halt its programme.
What form any sanctions against Iran would take has yet to be determined. Iran maintains it has a right to a nuclear programme which, it says, has a purely civilian aspect.
Russia and China, which can both veto action at the Security Council, have urged patience and said they would not support severe punishments. Western powers accuse Iran of trying covertly to develop a nuclear bomb.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani have agreed to hold "face-to-face" talks in coming days.
A diplomat told the AFP news agency they would meet in Berlin on 6 September.
This would come a day before a meeting of the six powers that offered Tehran a package of incentives in exchange for a halt to its nuclear work, he said.