11 December 2009

White House Statement on European Council Declaration on Iran

U.S., international partners, call on Iran to comply on nuclear program

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
December 11, 2009

Statement by the Press Secretary on the European Council Declaration on Iran

The United States echoes the grave concerns expressed by the European Council today regarding Iran’s nuclear program, and is united with our international partners in calling on Iran to comply fully with its international obligations.

We, alongside our partners, remain committed to working with Iran to find a peaceful diplomatic resolution to the international community’s concerns with Iran’s nuclear program.  To date, Iran has not taken advantage of the many opportunities to begin to build trust and confidence, including the IAEA’s Tehran Research Reactor proposal.  Instead, the Iranian leadership’s actions over the past several months have increased the international community’s concerns about Iran’s claims that its nuclear intentions are exclusively peaceful.  This was noted most recently by the IAEA Director General’s report, and reaffirmed by the IAEA’s Board of Governors in a decisive vote on November 27.

Iran has also failed to uphold its Geneva commitment to have a further meeting with the P5+1 to discuss its nuclear program.  The offer of constructive engagement remains on the table, and we urge Iran to take concrete steps toward this course.

However, if Iran continues to fail to bring its nuclear program into full compliance with the requirements of the United Nations Security Council and the IAEA, there will be consequences and we will be consulting closely with our partners to ensure those consequences are credible. We will continue to assess Iran’s responses, and together with our partners will take appropriate measures in keeping with our common approach to the Iranian nuclear program.

The United States also remains deeply concerned about the deteriorating human rights situation in Iran. We continue to call on the Iranian government to end the use of violence and persecution against those who seek to peacefully exercise universal rights, and to abide by its international obligations, including under the International Covenant on Civil and Political rights.