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U.S. Warns Iran on Nuke Development
Aired June 19, 2003 - 13:08 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Now another line in the sand drawn by the Bush administration; this time, Iran. For the first time, President Bush says he will not tolerate an Iranian nuclear weapon. The question is how to stop it.
CNN's Dana Bash has the latest now. She's traveling with the president in Minnesota -- Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.
Well, the news from the White House today is the fact that they are pointing to a report coming out of Vienna. That is the site of the International Atomic Energy Agency. They just wrapped up a two- day conference and came out with a report on Iran's nuclear program, and that is something that the Bush administration has been waiting for to help them move forward in their diplomacy and trying to urge countries around the world to get Iran to stop its nuclear program.
They are seizing on the fact that the report concluded that Iran did not give all of the information that they say it had about its programs, and also about the fact that they weren't as cooperative as they might have been in helping the inspectors look at some of the facilities.
The IAEA chief, Mohamed ElBaradei, talked about some of the conclusions. Let's listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOHAMED ELBARADEI, IAEA DIRECTOR GENERAL: The board was very clear that safeguards has to be implemented in a very comprehensive, very conspicuous manner, very rigid manner, if you like, that to build confidence, you need to be completely transparent, and that the issues before us should be resolved as early as possible or as soon as possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now, this report did not give the White House everything that it had hoped for. It, first of all, does not call for unconditional access for the inspectors in some of the sites that they are looking at. It also doesn't conclude that Iran is using these programs to build any kind of weapon.
Nevertheless, the White House is calling this a strong statement. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer saying -- quote -- "the IAEA board expresses its concerns about Iran's failure to report nuclear activities. The board calls on Iran to cooperate fully, and specifically asks Iran to permit the IAEA to take environmental samples and to be more transparent and to allow inspections and to sign an additional protocol. This is strong." That is White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.
But what the White House is really hoping for with this report is that it will be a rallying cry of sorts, that it will help build international support to put pressure on Iran to stop its nuclear program and to cooperate with these inspectors. And it's support that has been hard to come by at times, with some key allies, like Russia for example, countries that have major financial interests in the country of Iran. But as the president noted yesterday, the White House is ratcheting up the rhetoric on that country, saying that they will not tolerate any kind of nuclear program in Iran.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, just coming here to Minnesota on board Air Force One told reporters that the president is certainly not ruling out any kind of military action against Iran, because it's their policy. They never do. However, the White House is making clear at this point they are pursuing diplomatic measures to stop Iran in this nuclear program -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Our Dana Bash traveling with the president, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired June 19, 2003 - 13:08 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Now another line in the sand drawn by the Bush administration; this time, Iran. For the first time, President Bush says he will not tolerate an Iranian nuclear weapon. The question is how to stop it.
CNN's Dana Bash has the latest now. She's traveling with the president in Minnesota -- Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.
Well, the news from the White House today is the fact that they are pointing to a report coming out of Vienna. That is the site of the International Atomic Energy Agency. They just wrapped up a two- day conference and came out with a report on Iran's nuclear program, and that is something that the Bush administration has been waiting for to help them move forward in their diplomacy and trying to urge countries around the world to get Iran to stop its nuclear program.
They are seizing on the fact that the report concluded that Iran did not give all of the information that they say it had about its programs, and also about the fact that they weren't as cooperative as they might have been in helping the inspectors look at some of the facilities.
The IAEA chief, Mohamed ElBaradei, talked about some of the conclusions. Let's listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOHAMED ELBARADEI, IAEA DIRECTOR GENERAL: The board was very clear that safeguards has to be implemented in a very comprehensive, very conspicuous manner, very rigid manner, if you like, that to build confidence, you need to be completely transparent, and that the issues before us should be resolved as early as possible or as soon as possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now, this report did not give the White House everything that it had hoped for. It, first of all, does not call for unconditional access for the inspectors in some of the sites that they are looking at. It also doesn't conclude that Iran is using these programs to build any kind of weapon.
Nevertheless, the White House is calling this a strong statement. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer saying -- quote -- "the IAEA board expresses its concerns about Iran's failure to report nuclear activities. The board calls on Iran to cooperate fully, and specifically asks Iran to permit the IAEA to take environmental samples and to be more transparent and to allow inspections and to sign an additional protocol. This is strong." That is White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.
But what the White House is really hoping for with this report is that it will be a rallying cry of sorts, that it will help build international support to put pressure on Iran to stop its nuclear program and to cooperate with these inspectors. And it's support that has been hard to come by at times, with some key allies, like Russia for example, countries that have major financial interests in the country of Iran. But as the president noted yesterday, the White House is ratcheting up the rhetoric on that country, saying that they will not tolerate any kind of nuclear program in Iran.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, just coming here to Minnesota on board Air Force One told reporters that the president is certainly not ruling out any kind of military action against Iran, because it's their policy. They never do. However, the White House is making clear at this point they are pursuing diplomatic measures to stop Iran in this nuclear program -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Our Dana Bash traveling with the president, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
