US plays down
immediate Iran
nuclear threat
By P. Parameswaran
Agence France Presse
July 9, 2008
The United States on Wednesday played down concerns
about any immediate dangers from Iran's nuclear program but warned
that the world was prepared to confront challenges posed by the Islamic
republic's "provocative" policies.
"While Iran seeks to
create the perception of advancement of its nuclear program, real progress has
been more modest," said William Burns, the top official handling Iranian
issues at the State Department.
The UN Security
Council has imposed several rounds of sanctions on Iran for not suspending its uranium
enrichment activities, which world powers fear could be used to make a nuclear
weapon.
Washington has been in the
forefront of diplomatic efforts to impose the sanctions and lawmakers attending
a Congressional hearing in which Burns testified Wednesday persistently raised
concerns about Iran's
nuclear threat.
"Iran daily
inches closer to the point where it can produce enough weapons-grade uranium to
make a nuclear bomb," warned Howard Berman, the chairman of the House of
Representatives foreign affairs panel.
"No one knows
precisely when that will happen, but most experts say it will be soon," he
said. "Some predict as early as the end of this year."
But Burns, under
secretary of state for political affairs, said Iran had not yet mastered uranium
enrichment efforts, thanks to UN sanctions.
"It is apparent
that Iran has not yet
perfected enrichment, and as a direct result of UN sanctions, Iran's ability to procure technology or items of
significance to its missile programs, even dual use items, is being
impaired," he told the hearing on the "strategic challenge posed by Iran."
In addition to
limiting Iran's access to proliferation sensitive technologies and products,
Burns said key officials involved in Iran's procurement activities had been
"cut off" from the international financial system and restricted from
travel.
Iran's banks were also
being pushed out of their "normal spheres of operation, he said.
Amid international
concerns after Iran
test-fired a long range missile it said was capable of reaching key US ally Israel, Burns
asked the Islamic republic to seriously reconsider its "provocative"
policies and move towards a "cooperative and constructive" path.
"Until that
time, however, the US and
the international community remain committed to meeting the challenges posed by
Iran," he said as
lawmakers also highlighted Iran's
missile threat.
Iran on Wednesday
test-fired a missile it said is capable of reaching Israel, angering the United
States amid growing fears that the standoff over the contested Iranian nuclear
drive could lead to war.
Iran insists its nuclear
activities are aimed solely at generating energy but the West fears could be
aimed at making an atomic bomb.
The United States
has never ruled out military action against Iranian atomic facilities.
Berman said that the
threat posed to Israel by a
nuclear Iran
would be "existential."
"There are
optimists who believe that Iran, were it to acquire nuclear arms, could be
deterred, just as the Soviets were, but given the martyrdom mentality of the
Iranian leadership, one cannot be sure," he said.
Burns called for
"tough minded diplomacy, maximizing pressure on the Iranians at multiple
points to drive home the costs of continued defiance of the rest of the world,
especially on the nuclear issue."