Iran said Tuesday that it would share its nuclear technology with other countries and threatened to stop cooperating with international nuclear inspectors if the West imposes sanctions.
“The Iranians can threaten, but they’re deepening their own isolation,” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a visit to Greece. “We will consider what steps to take next.”
Such steps will be considered Friday, the deadline for Iran to stop enriching uranium as demanded by the United Nations Security Council last month. Rice has been calling for tough new economic and political sanctions, but Tehran predicted such a move would backfire.
“If you take harsh measures, we will hide this program,” said Ali Larijani, Tehran’s chief nuclear negotiator.
Although Rice said the U.S. is pursuing a diplomatic solution, she emphasizedthat President Bush “doesn’t take any options off the table.”
Larijani appeared unimpressed.
“Military action against Iran will not end our program,” he said Tuesday at a nuclear conference. “If you use the language of force, you should not expect us to act transparently.”
Meanwhile, Iran offered to share nuclear technology with other Islamic states. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s top religious leader, made the offer to visiting Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.
“Iran’s nuclear capability is one example of various scientific capabilities in the country,” Khamenei told al-Bashir. “The Islamic Republic of Iran is prepared to transfer the experience, knowledge and technology of its scientists.”
The remark set off alarm bells in Washington.
“That got our attention,” said State Department spokesman J. Adam Ereli. “That’s a very disturbing statement, given the fact that you’ve got a country that has a clandestine nuclear program that is now talking openly about proliferating.”
Ereli predicted that Iran would be the subject of “a very negative report” to the Security Council by Mohamed ElBaradei, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, on Friday. Despite increasingly bellicose rhetoric from Tehran, the U.S. has been unable to unite the international community on the issue of sanctions.
In an effort to remedy that problem, Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns will meet in Paris on Tuesday with his counterparts from Germany, Great Britain, Russia, China and France. The latter four, along with the U.S., are the permanent members of the Security Council.
