Clinton: Iran must act quickly
US secretary of state talks tough after draft agreement reached on Iran's nuclear program earlier Wednesday; ' we are not prepared to talk just for the sake of talking,' she says, urges Iran to take 'prompt action'
WASHINGTON – The United States demands quick action on Tehran's part in implementing the draft agreement on its nuclear program, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday.
The secretary of state added that she expects the Islamic republic to hand over most of its uranium to Russia as soon as possible.
"In particular, prompt action is needed on implementing the plan to use Iran's own low-enriched uranium to refuel the Tehran research reactor," Clinton said.
Addressing the ongoing dialogue with Iran, the top State Department official made it clear that "we are not prepared to talk just for the sake of talking."
"The door is open to a better future for Iran. But the process of engagement cannot be open-ended," she said.
"As President Obama noted after the October 1st meeting in Geneva, we appear to have made a constructive beginning," she said. "But that needs to be followed up by constructive actions."
In referring to the nuclear threat, the secretary of state said: "Thwarting the nuclear ambitions of North Korea and Iran is critical to shoring up the nonproliferation regime."
Enhancing the IAEA's capabilities to verify whether states are engaging in illicit nuclear activity is essential to strengthening the nonproliferation regime," she said. The IAEA's additional protocol, which allows for more aggressive, short-notice inspections, should be made universal through concerted efforts to persuade key holdout states to join."
