[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

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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.