US wants new Iran sanctions fast

US secretary of state says UN has 'very strong case' for imposing fresh sanctions on Islamic Republic , as new report by United Nations nuclear watchdog showed Tehran failed to fully cooperate with atomic investigators

The UN has a "very strong case" for imposing more sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday.

She said a new report authored by the International Atomic Energy Agency saying Tehran has failed to fully cooperate with UN atomic investigators is good reason for the Security Council to consider a third round of sanctions.

The report said Iran also failed to answer key questions about its nuclear past.
"It hasn't answered questions about past activities in covert programs that they say they didn't have," Rice said.

"I think that this report demonstrates that whatever the Iranians may be doing to try to clean up some elements of the past, it is inadequate, given their current activities, given questions about their past activities," she said.

"If you just look at that record, I would have to say there is a very strong case for moving forward on the Security Council resolution." The US wants quick action to punish Iran in light of the findings of the report, the secretary of state added. Rice spoke days before senior diplomats from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany meet in Washington to discuss a new resolution. All have agreed on a draft. More