Obama adviser: Sanctions looming for Iran
The growing defiance of Iran over its nuclear programme poses the greatest threat to international security, and the Islamic republic must satisfy the demands of the international community or face fresh sanctions and increasing isolation, US National Security Adviser James Jones warned
Munich: The growing defiance of Iran over its nuclear programme poses the greatest threat to international security, and the Islamic republic must satisfy the demands of the international community or face fresh sanctions and increasing isolation, US National Security Adviser James Jones warned on Saturday.
"The unprecedented degree of international consensus ... demonstrates that Tehran must meet its responsibilities or face wider sanctions and increasing international isolation,” Jones said at the annual Munich Security Conference. "Hanging in the balance is a nuclear arms race in the Middle East and greater proliferation world wide. I can think of no greater concern at the moment to our collective security," he said.
He was speaking after Iran's foreign minister said on Friday he was confident of a deal soon with world powers on exchanging some of Tehran's low-enriched uranium for higher-grade fuel it could use in a reactor producing medical isotopes.
Jones said that the door for diplomacy with Iran remains open, but he underlined that "Tehran's puzzling defiance... now compels all of us to work together as allies and partners on a second track of increased pressure."
Iran, meanwhile, officially started production of two new missiles on Saturday, state radio said. Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi inaugurated production lines for the Qaem anti-helicopter missile and for the Toofan-5 anti-armour missile, it reported.
"Upon the mass production and the delivery of these modern weapons to the armed forces, the country's defence capability would improve in land and air warfare," the Fars News Agency quoted Vahidi as saying. State radio said Toofan-5 carried two warheads and was able to destroy armoured personnel carriers and tanks. It did not say where the production was located.
Vahidi described Qaem as a light-weight, guided missile "that is able to destroy low-altitude air targets, particularly armoured combat helicopters," Fars reported. "The laser-guided Qaem missiles are resistant to the enemy's electronic warfare," he added.
