    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book I)]
    [February 4, 2006]
    [Pages 194-195]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Statement on the International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors
    Vote To Report Iran to the United Nations Security Council
    February 4, 2006

        Today in Vienna, the International Atomic Energy Agency Board of
    Governors voted to report Iran to the United Nations Security Council.
    This important step sends a clear message to the regime in Iran that the
    world will not permit the Iranian regime to gain nuclear weapons.
        The Security Council will now address the IAEA Board's finding of
    ``Iran's many failures and breaches of its obligations to comply'' with
    its Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Safeguards Agreement. We expect the
    Security Council to add its weight to

    [[Page 195]]

    the IAEA Board's calls for the Iranian regime to return to the Paris
    Agreement, suspending all enrichment and reprocessing activity;
    cooperate fully with the IAEA; and return to negotiations with the EU-3
    of Great Britain, France, and Germany. Those steps are necessary for the
    regime to begin to restore any confidence that it is not seeking nuclear
    weapons under the cover of a civilian program.
        Today's vote by the IAEA Board is not the end of diplomacy or the
    IAEA's role. Instead, it is the beginning of an intensified diplomatic
    effort to prevent the Iranian regime from developing nuclear weapons. We
    will continue working with our international partners to achieve that
    common objective. The path chosen by Iran's new leaders--threats,
    concealment, and breaking international agreements and IAEA seals--will
    not succeed and will not be tolerated by the international community.
    The regime's continued defiance only further isolates Iran from the rest
    of the world and undermines the Iranian people's aspirations for a
    better life.
        I end with a message to the Iranian people. The action today by the
    IAEA Board of Governors is not about denying the Iranian people the
    benefits of civilian nuclear power. The EU-3 and Russia, with the
    support of the United States, have made the Iranian regime offers that
    would enable Iran to have a civil nuclear energy program. The
    international community's sole purpose in this vote is to prevent the
    acquisition of nuclear weapons by the regime. Iran's true interests lie
    in working with the international community to enjoy the benefits of
    peaceful nuclear energy, not in isolating Iran by continuing to develop
    the capability to build nuclear weapons.