VIENNA — Iran has continued to enrich uranium in defiance of a United Nations deadline to halt such work and has offered minimal cooperation with inspectors trying to assess whether its program is for peaceful purposes, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog reported Thursday.
Iran's defiance, while hardly unexpected, paves the way for the start of Security Council debate over international sanctions against the Islamic Republic; the United States has taken the lead in the campaign to penalize Tehran. China and Russia, both of which have veto power, have expressed misgivings about any move in that direction.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday that his country "will not accept for one moment any bullying, invasion and violation of its rights."
Speaking to a crowd in the northwestern Iranian city of Orumiyeh, he urged defiance, and described the United States as "the main source of the problems of mankind."
President Bush, speaking in Salt Lake City, described Iran as a "grave threat" to the world and called on other nations to help stop its nuclear efforts. "There must be consequences for Iran's defiance," he said. "And we must not allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons."
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John R. Bolton said the Security Council would not start discussing possible sanctions until next week, after the European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, meets with Ali Larijani, Iran's top nuclear negotiator.
"We're certainly ready to proceed here in New York when we're given the instructions to do so," Bolton said.
The International Atomic Energy Agency report says Iran continues to enrich uranium at its Natanz facility and still denies inspectors access to individuals who are key to answering questions about Tehran's nuclear program.
Iran also has refused or delayed requests by inspectors to review records and take uranium samples so that experts can assess the percentage of enrichment Tehran has achieved -- information necessary for evaluating whether Iran's program might have a military aspect.
Uranium when enriched to low levels can be used to generate electricity, but when more highly enriched, it can be used as the core of an atomic weapon.
The report also raises questions about newly detected highly enriched uranium on equipment tested by inspectors.
