Obama: Iran Building Covert Uranium Enrichment Facility

PITTSBURGH -(Dow Jones)- The leaders of the U.S., France and the U.K. on Friday accused Iran of building a covert uranium enrichment facility, saying Tehran is directly challenging global non-proliferation rules and putting more pressure on high-stakes talks scheduled for next week.

"The existence of this facility underscores Iran's continuing unwillingness to meet its obligations under U.N. Security Council resolutions, the [International Atomic Energy Agency] requirements," U.S. President Barack Obama said in brief comments at the Group of 20 summit in Pittsburgh.

The U.S., France and the U.K. presented evidence of the site to the IAEA on Thursday, and Obama said the agency is expected to investigate the situation immediately. He repeated that Iran has a right to a civilian nuclear power program, but said the size of the new site is inconsistent with a peaceful program.

"It is time for Iran to act immediately to restore the confidence of the international community by fulfilling its international obligations," Obama said, adding that the U.S. is still committed to engagement with Iran.

The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council - the U.S., U.K., France, China and Russia - and Germany, which comprise the so-called P5+1, are set to meet with Iran on Oct. 1.

The surprise announcement on the nuclear facility injects new urgency into the drive to stop Iran's nuclear program, and deflects attention from the G-20's primary agenda - bolstering the global economic recovery.

Appearing alongside Obama, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said sanctions "will have to be taken" if Iran doesn't address the matter by December.

"What has been revealed today is exceptional," Sarkozy said. "We were already in a very severe confidence crisis, we are now faced with a challenge, a challenge made to the entire international community."

He said, "everything, everything must be on the table" at next week's talks.

U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown echoed Sarkozy and Obama. "The level of deception by the Iranian government and the scale of what we believe is a breach of international commitments, will shock and anger the whole international community and it will harden our resolve."

-By Henry J. Pulizzi, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9256; henry.pulizzi@dowjones.com

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September 25, 2009 09:34 ET (13:34 GMT)


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