Military action is option with Iran
DIPLOMACYOBAMA wants disclosure of all of country’s nuclear activities

By The Associated Press Comments 0
Published: September 26, 2009

PITTSBURGH — President Barack Obama declared Friday that Iran is on a path to confrontation with world powers unless it agrees to "come clean” and disclose all its nuclear activities. He said he would not rule out military action.

Multimedia

Photoview all photos

More Info

At a glance

Also on Friday

in Pittsburgh:

• N. Korean program: South Korean President Lee Myung-bak says the world must take a tough stand against North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, despite recent conciliatory gestures from Pyongyang. Lee says the North Koreans won’t readily give up their nuclear weapons program.

• Restricted airspace: Federal authorities say fighter jets escorted a small plane to an airport after it entered airspace that has been restricted due to the Group of 20 economic summit. A Homeland Security Department official says the breach did not appear to be a threat, indicating it was a mistake.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Obama joined the leaders of Britain and France in accusing the Islamic republic of clandestinely building an underground plant to make nuclear fuel that could be used to build an atomic bomb. Iranian officials acknowledged the facility but insisted it had been reported to nuclear authorities as required.

"Iran’s action raised grave doubts” about its promise to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes only, Obama told a news conference at the conclusion of a G-20 summit whose focus on world economic recovery was overshadowed by disclosure of the Iranian plant.

Obama said a telling moment could come next week when Iran meets with U.S. and other major nations to discuss the nuclear issue.

"Iran is on notice that when we meet with them on Oct. 1 they are going to have to come clean and they are going to have to make a choice” between international isolation and giving up any aspirations to becoming a nuclear power, he said. If they refuse to give ground, they will remain on "a path that is going to lead to confrontation.”

Inspectors may visit

Unbowed, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said his country had done nothing wrong and Obama would regret his accusations.

At a news conference in New York, Ahmadinejad said the plant wouldn’t be operational for 18 months but sidestepped a question about whether Iran had sufficient enriched uranium to manufacture a nuclear weapon.