Agence France Presse, WASHINGTON – US Vice President Dick Cheney said Tuesday that Iran’s rejection of a Russian compromise to defuse the "dangerous" nuclear dispute all but proved that the Islamic Republic wants atomic weapons.
In an interview with PBS television, Cheney pointed to Tehran’s refusal to sign on to Moscow’s proposal to carry out uranium enrichment on Russian territory in a bid to ease global worries that Iran seeks nuclear arms.
"They’ve rejected that," said Cheney. "That leads everybody to believe that they obviously want to have their own enrichment capacity to be able to go all the way to the levels required for a nuclear weapon".
"There doesn’t seem to be any doubt of what their intentions are," said the vice president, who described the standoff as "dangerous" and said it had worsened with the election of hardline Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
"I think everybody also has had their level of concern increase because of the current leadership in Iran. The new president has made some pretty outrageous statements," said Cheney.
He pointed to Ahmadinejad’s calls for Israel’s destruction, accused Iran of backing terrorism, and warned that while Washington hopes for a diplomatic solution "no options are off the table".
Cheney also praised the UN watchdog agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), for referring Iran to the UN Security Council for possible punitive action, calling it "the right step".
"The world, broadly defined, seems to be on board with respect to the concern that all of us share, and the belief that this needs to go before the UN Security Council," he said.
"Everybody’s concerned that if Iran were equipped with nuclear weapons, that would become a major source of instability, if you will, in that part of the world," said Cheney.
"I know others who live in the region, the governments I have talked with, the president’s talked with, obviously, are very concerned about what’s happening in Iran," he said.
