U.S. Official Says Iran Must Come Clean About Nuclear Program, Face More Inspections

GENEVA (AP) - Iran must come clean about its nuclear program and submit to increased inspections by a global monitoring body, a U.S. official told an international conference Monday.

"Despite professions of transparency and peaceful intent, Iran is going down the same path of denial and deception that handicapped international inspections in North Korea and Iraq," said John Wolf, U.S. assistant secretary of state for nonproliferation.

"We have seen the pattern of cheat and retreat before - of begrudging compromises on process but obstinacy on real disclosure," Wolf said at the opening of a two-week meeting on the 1968 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. The conference is one of the meetings that precedes a review of the 188-nation accord in 2005.

There was no immediate reaction to Wolf's remarks from Iran. In the past, Iranian officials have said they have nothing to hide because their nuclear program is only meant to generate electricity.

The United States has accused Iran, which is building a nuclear power plant in the southern part of the country, of having secret plans to produce nuclear weapons.

The International Atomic Energy Agency oversees compliance with the nonproliferation treaty. The head of the Vienna-based agency visited Iranian nuclear sites - including a uranium mine - in February and is expected to report to the agency's board in June.

"What is presented as 'compliance' may in fact not be real," he said. "The International Atomic Energy needs to ask the hard questions and get complete answers.

"It needs to go wherever necessary to find the truth and it needs to measure each answer against Iran's pattern to date of denial and deception," Wolf said.

Under the nonproliferation treaty, the declared nuclear powers of the 1960s - the United States, China, France, Russia and Britain - were meant to reduce their arsenals, try to stop the spread of nuclear weapons and ensure nuclear technology was only used for peaceful purposes. However, the accord has failed to stop the growth in the number of nuclear powers.

Alright, you guys over there in Russia get on it then. We will deal with North Korea and China. I doubt few in the U.S.A. would object if Russia bombed Iran's Uranium Enrichment Plant. Show us you are with us; it's not too late for you guys to be on the right side. You should have been with us against Iraq.

In fact, you wouldn't even have to bomb Iran's plant to get on our good side. All you guys have to do is quit selling research time in your wind tunnels to the Iranians, quit selling them materials used to build enrichment plants (i.e. high strenght aluminum), and stop building the Bushehr Reactor. Surely Russia's relationship with the United States, who has helped you in countless ways since 1991, isn't worth losing over a couple of 'business' deals with Iran? Wouldn't you agree?

I am all for Russia and the U.S. cooperating to rid the world of tyrants, terrorists and WMD's. I offer this gesture to show my sincerity. If you send your local representative a letter or email, and tell him/her you support U.S. and Russian cooperation in the bombing of the Natanz plant in Iran, I will do the same. I can even vouch for a couple other people I know personally who will do the same. What do you say?

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