VIENNA (AFP) ââ¬â Iran will have a price to pay if it does not cooperate with the UN nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency and halt uranium enrichment, a top US official said Thursday in Vienna.
"It’s very important that we send this message that there is going to be a price to what Iran does. And that price will be increased isolation and heightened sanctions," the US under-secretary of state for political affairs, Nicholas Burns, told journalists ahead of a meeting with IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei.
"If Iran has not suspended its enrichment program in Natanz by a couple weeks’ time, that’s going to be a highly relevant factor" as it will show Tehran has not complied with UN Security Council resolutions, Burns added.
The Security Council has already passed two resolutions calling for sanctions if Iran does not fully suspend its enrichment and reprocessing activities and the United States is pushing for a third.
"Iran has chosen the route of sanctions," Burns said.
