BICOM

The White House said yesterday that this week’s International Atomic Energy Agency report on Iran’s nuclear programme was “very alarming” and said it would continue to pressure Tehran to “change its behavior.”

“They need to get right with the world and live up to their obligations with regards to their nuclear programme. We will continue to pursue that going forward in the wake of this very alarming report,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

Also yesterday, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said that military action against Iran could have unintended consequences – signaling the first reservations from the Obama administration about a strike since the release of the IAEA report. “You’ve got to be careful of unintended consequences here. And those consequences could involve not only not really deterring Iran from what they want to do, but more importantly, it could have a serious impact in the region and it could have a serious impact on US forces in the region,” Panetta said.

Panetta also said that he agrees with earlier assessments that a strike would only set Iran’s nuclear programme back by three years at most. Panetta, a former CIA director, added that the IAEA report is in line with intelligence assessments that suggest Iran is trying to develop its nuclear capabilities, but that there continues to be a divide within Tehran over whether to build a bomb.

Meanwhile on Thursday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for a diplomatic solution to the nuclear impasse with Tehran. UN spokesman Martin Nesirky told reporters that Ban reiterated his call for “Iran’s compliance with all relevant resolutions of the Security Council and the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency.” Despite Bans insistence for strong diplomatic action against Iran, both Beijing and Moscow in earlier statements have rejected the possibility of further UN Security Council sanctions against Iran.