Iran Nuclear Sanctions

After a whistle-blower told the press that Iran will soon be enriching uranium at a reactor in Tehran, diplomats from countries around the world are discussing new ways to try to convince the Iranians to halt their nuclear aspirations.

Iran Nuclear Sanctions

High ranking statesmen from the United States, Russia, and France all expressed a willingness to step up sanctions against Iran.

Due to this new information, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that “the only path left to us at this point, it seems to me, is the pressure track.” However, Gates qualified his statement by saying that such a “track” would only work if it drew the cooperation of a large international coalition.

Meanwhile, in Moscow, a Russian member of Parliament who serves as the head of a foreign affairs committee alerted the international to community to be ready for “serious measures.”

Bernard Kouchner, the French foreign minister, said that “negotiations are impossible” and that the “only thing we can do is apply sanctions.”

This latest diplomatic standoff with the Iranians apparently happened because Iran backed out of a deal that would have made them exchange their uranium stockpile for processed fuel rods of enriched uranium that were made outside of Iran. Recently, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced that his country would start enriching its own uranium. According to a state-run television station in Iran, the enrichment is scheduled to begin on Tuesday “in the presence of inspectors and observers from” the International Atomic Energy Agency (I.A.E.A.). As of now, the I.A.E.A. has no comment on the matter.