US rejects Iran's nuclear offer
(Xinhua)Updated: 2007-02-21 09:07
WASHINGTON - The White House on Tuesday rejected Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's offer to shut down nuclear facilities if the United States and its allies do the same.
 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad refused to suspend the country's uranium enrichment activities on Tuesday, just one day before a UN Security Council deadline which demanded Tehran to do so or may face more severe sanctions. [Xinhua] |
"That's not the way the UN Security Council resolution reads... That is a false offer," White House spokesman Tony Snow said at a news briefing.
"The offer that the Iranians need to make is to suspend activity that could lead to the enrichment of nuclear material that could be used in creating a bomb," the spokesman added.
Warning that deadline for Iran to suspend its nuclear activities is coming, Snow said the United States is waiting to see "what happens in the next few days in terms of developments with the Iranians."
The United States has been demanding Iran stop uranium enrichment which is a necessary step both in nuclear energy making and the making of a nuclear bomb. Iran insists its nuclear program is solely for civilian energy purposes.
The UN Security Council on December 23, 2006, passed Resolution 1737, imposing sanctions on Iran's nuclear and missile programs and demanding Tehran to suspend its enrichment activities or face further severe sanctions.
Iran, which refuses to heed the UN Security Council's demand to suspend uranium enrichment, lashed out at the resolution as an " illegal measure."
International Atomic Energy Agency said on February 9 that it has cut back nearly half of its technical aid projects in Iran to uphold UN sanctions.
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