US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said yesterday the international community faced a "credibility issue" if it did not impose UN sanctions against Iran for refusing to abandon nuclear activities.
Rice, who is in New York for the UN General Assembly, said that Washington would continue to push the world body to impose sanctions against Iran after it failed to heed an Aug. 31 UN deadline to give up enrichment activities.
"The international community also has a credibility issue. We said as of Aug. 31 suspend [enrichment] or we will pursue sanctions. We are talking to our partners about that course," Rice said in an interview with CBS.
Rice was set to have dinner yesterday with foreign ministers from the permanent five members of the UN Security Council as well as Germany and Italy to discuss how to deal with Iran.
China and Russia, who both have veto powers on the Council, are wary of punitive measures against Iran and some of Washington's allies such as France have argued against a rush toward sanctions.
European foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who has been negotiating with Iran, has also said it would be wrong to push for a sanctions resolution while he was making progress in talks with Tehran.
US President George W. Bush was to address the UN General Assembly later yesterday on Iran and other issues and was expected to push the US case for strong action against Tehran.
Asked whether the US might be prepared to speak to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is also in New York, Rice reiterated the US position that this would happen only if Tehran abandoned its nuclear ambitions.
Iran argues its nuclear work is to generate power while the US and its allies say Tehran is trying to build a bomb.
"If Iran is prepared to suspend that, we will be prepared for the first time in decades to sit down across the table from the Iranians and talk," Rice told ABC's Good Morning America show.
"I would meet anywhere with my counterpart, at any time, once they have suspended enrichment and reprocessing," she added.
Meanwhile, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said yesterday that Iran wanted to make suggestions on how to "manage the world," ahead of a key address to world leaders at the UN General Assembly.
Ahmadinejad told Iranian reporters after arriving in New York that the world faced numerous threats and "you cannot find anyone who can decisively say the human race has a clear future."
But he said on the tarmac of John F. Kennedy international airport in remarks broadcast on state television that Iran has "very clear and transparent views about how to the manage the world."
"The Islamic Republic of Iran and our people has an efficient system on how to manage the world and will suggest it and will discuss it," he added, without specifying if he would be referring to this proposal in his speech.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
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