U.S. calls for new sanctions against Iran

VIENNA, Austria -- The U.S. called for new sanctions against Iran after a U.N. report said the Tehran regime has been generally truthful about key aspects of its past nuclear activities, but is continuing to enrich uranium.

The International Atomic Energy Agency also said restrictions the Iranians put on U.N. inspectors two years ago mean it still cannot rule out that Iran has a secret weapons program, as suspected by Washington and its allies.

An Iranian envoy denounced the idea of further U.N. Security Council sanctions, saying the IAEA assessment shows it is cooperating.

The United States and Britain noted the report confirmed that Iran continues to ignore the Security Council's demands that it suspend uranium enrichment until questions about the nuclear program's intent are resolved.

"We believe that selective cooperation is not good enough," White House press secretary Dana Perino said, in calling for new sanctions.

Britain's Foreign Office said that "if Iran wants to restore trust in its program, it must come clean on all outstanding issues without delay." It said Tehran must restore stronger inspection rights for IAEA teams and mothball enrichment activities to avoid new sanctions.

The top Iranian negotiator, Saeed Jalili, said the report shows a third round of U.N. penalties would be "illegal action." He said Iran answered all the questions by the IAEA and made "good progress" in cooperating with the agency.

In light of the IAEA report, "many accusations are now baseless," Jalili said, referring to the suspicions voiced by the U.S. and its allies that Tehran is secretly pursuing nuclear weapons.

"Those powers who base their accusations on this I hope will reconsider what they say," he said.

Much of the 10-page report, which was made available to The Associated Press, focused on the history of Iran's black-market nuclear procurements and past development of uranium enrichment technology, which can produce material for nuclear warheads.

The IAEA appeared to be giving Tehran a pass on that issue, repeatedly saying it concluded that "Iran's statements are consistent with ... information available to the agency."

"Iran has provided sufficient access to individuals and has responded in a timely manner to questions and provide (needed) clarifications and amplifications," the report said.

Still, it noted some foot-dragging, saying that "cooperation has been active rather than proactive," and urged Tehran to provide "active cooperation and full transparency."

Washington and its allies, however, had sought much greater and detailed disclosure as well as curtailment of enrichment as repeatedly demanded by the Security Council,

Iran insists it will not suspend enrichment, a technology it says is needed to produce fuel for nuclear reactors that will generate electricity. Tehran denies it wants enrichment capabilities to make weapons.

The report said Iran is running about 3,000 centrifuges, which can enrich uranium gas either to low or weapons-grade levels.

The 3,000 figure has been mentioned before by diplomats familiar with the Iran investigation and top Iranian officials, but this was the IAEA's first formal mention of it. Former U.N. inspector David Albright has said that is 10 times more than Tehran was running a little more than a year ago.

Washington says Iran wants nuclear weapons.

A senior U.N. official, who agreed to discuss the Iran situation only if not quoted by name, said 3,000 centrifuges running smoothly could produce enough material for a nuclear bomb within 11/2 years. But he noted that the machines, in the underground Natanz facility, are under IAEA supervision, meaning Iran could not escape detection if it reconfigured them for such a purpose.

The official acknowledged, however, that the agency remained blind on Iran's present work with new and more modern enrichment technologies that would allow it to enrich uranium at far greater speed and volume than with the outmoded machines the agency is monitoring.

Touching on that, the report said the agency's "knowledge about Iran's current nuclear program is shrinking" because of access restrictions imposed in 2006.

Repeating previous warnings, it said the IAEA "is not in a position to provide credible assurances about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities" unless Iran restores more robust inspection rights to agency experts.

The report also said Iran has stockpiled nearly 300 tons of the precursor gas used in enrichment. That would suffice for about 40 nuclear bombs were it spun to weapons-grade level.

The U.N. official said the report's acknowledgment that Iran has generally responded to IAEA queries did not mean the IAEA's investigation into past enrichment activities was "closed," even though a work plan between the agency and Tehran set November as the deadline for clearing up the issue.

But the nod to Tehran's increased cooperation could embolden opponents of new sanctions. China and Russia, which are among the Security Council's five veto-empowered permanent members, have argued against such penalties. Neither country had an immediate comment on the report.

Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said that "there has been dragging of feet by the Chinese" on a new sanctions resolution.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Seam McCormack suggested China was blocking plans for a meeting to discuss sanctions by the six nations leading the international response to Iran. They are the council's permanent members -- the U.S., Britain, France, Russia and China -- and Germany.

"Frankly, what we need now is for the Chinese to play a constructive role in scheduling the meeting, but also to have constructive, effective conversations about the elements of the resolution," he told reporters.

The IAEA report is one of two on Iran's nuclear program this month.

The other is expected soon from the European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, who has been trying to persuade Iran to accept offers for cooperation on civil atomic power projects in return for suspending uranium enrichment.

McCormack said Washington believed Solana's report would reflect Iranian noncooperation.

"They are continuing to operate centrifuges, they are continuing to expand those operations, as is noted in the IAEA report, so I wouldn't expect that Mr. Solana's report is going to do anything but note that the Iranians are continuing to defy the international community," he said.

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Associated Press writers Deb Riechmann in Washington and Tarek El-Tablawy at the United Nations contributed to this report.