Iran is probably the No. 1 challenge to the United States, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday. "We may face no greater challenge from a single country than from Iran, whose policies are directed at developing a Middle East that would be 180 degrees different than the Middle East we would like to see developed," Rice said at a congressional hearing.
Iran
Iran's leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei in a meeting with members of Experts Assembly Thursday morning briefed them on the facts about nuclear issue and two major reasons for the US continued hue and cry. Ayatollah Khamenei also said this (US hostility) has been going on at various occasions over the past 27 years. According to Irna, the Supreme Leader said that today, the Iranian people and officials resist any pressure and threat by relying upon the Almighty God.
Ayatollah Khamenei added that by resorting to their wisdom and keeping up their unity, the Iranians are determined to continue their move to access advanced technologies, such as that of the nuclear energy.
On his part, Iran's Defense Minister Brigadier General Mostafa Mohammad Najjar insisted on Thursday that the Islamic Republic was determined to make use of nuclear energy for "peaceful purposes" as its legitimate right. In an interview with IRNA, he stressed "Depriving the country of access to peaceful nuclear technology is like depriving the nation of its natural access to air, water and food."
"We have announced times and again that peaceful use of nuclear technology is among our legitimate rights and we are to make use of it," he said.
The whole world knows that reporting Iran's nuclear dossier to the UN Security Council would only discredit international organizations, he said.
UNSC
The UN Security Council's five permanent members held closed consultations late Wednesday on the way how to handle the crisis over Iran's nuclear program. The meeting was held following the end of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) meeting in Vienna, at which the body's 35-nation board of governors discussed IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei's assessment report on Iran's nuclear program. ElBaradei said no real progress was made toward alleviating concerns about Iran's nuclear program.
After the closed consultations, Chinese UN Ambassador Wang Guangya told reporters that another such discussion had been scheduled for Friday afternoon. The five permanent Security Council members - China, Britain, France, Russia and the United States - agreed last month that the council would take up the matter once the IAEA concluded deliberations on Iran.
The United States said the Iranian case will go before the UN Security Council early next week. "I would expect early next week that this is a matter that the Security Council takes up for discussion," US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. McCormack said the United States will not seek immediate sanctions against Iran.
Meanwhile, Russian UN Ambassador Andrey Denisov said Britain had proposed requesting that ElBaradei present a new report to the council in two weeks on Iran's compliance with IAEA's resolutions. On his part, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said his country prefers keeping the dispute in the IAEA.
