Reuters – Britain called on Wednesday for the U.N. Security Council to consider action against Iran after it vowed to resume nuclear fuel research and Washington said a referral to the body was "more likely than ever."
Iran’s hardline president said his country would pursue its nuclear program despite international concerns.
Washington, which has been demanding for years that Iran be referred to the Security Council, said Washington would seek to "change Iranian behavior" through diplomatic channels.
British Foreign Minister Jack Straw hopes his French and German counterparts agree to push for this when the three men meet in Berlin on Thursday to discuss Iran.
Tehran began removing U.N. seals at uranium enrichment research facilities on Tuesday and announced it would resume "research and development" on producing enriched uranium, a technology that can produce atom bomb fuel, prompting angry reactions from Washington, the European Union and Russia.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair told parliament he aimed to secure international agreement to haul Iran before the Security Council, which can impose punitive measures.
"Then … we have to decide what measures to take and we obviously don’t rule out any measures at all," he added.
Blair made no direct reference to military force, but his remarks seemed stronger than those of Foreign Secretary Straw, who said on Tuesday military action was not on Britain’s agenda and that he believed it was not on anyone else’s.
U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters it appeared Tehran’s nuclear program would soon be on the agenda of the U.N.’s supreme body.
"It is more likely than ever that this will happen," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.
Asked by reporters about Washington’s aims in hauling Iran before the Security Council, McCormack said "we still seek to change Iranian behavior through diplomatic channels."
Iran says its nuclear program is entirely peaceful, but Western nations do not believe this. The U.N. nuclear watchdog has found evidence but no firm proof to the contrary.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad shrugged off the world outcry over Tehran’s decision to resume nuclear fuel activities.
"The Iranian nation will continue its way decisively and wisely to obtain and use nuclear technology for civilian ends and has no fear at all of the fuss created by the big powers," he said in a speech in the southern city of Bandar Abbas.
