Iran 'Leaving Itself No Exit Points' on Nuclear Issue, Says US Official

U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns told the VOA that Iran's refusal to suspend its uranium enrichment program will have consequences
Washington, D.C., April 14, 2006 - U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns told the Voice of America (VOA) that Iran's refusal to suspend its uranium enrichment program will have consequences and "the Iranian government needs to reflect on the fact that it is leaving itself no exit points from this story and it is isolating itself."

Burns' remarks came during an exclusive interview that aired today on VOA's Persian language TV program Khabarha va Nazarha (News and Views). Burns, the U.S. State Department's third-ranking official, told VOA that Iran's continued nuclear work will mean Iran's government is "going to run into trouble and, I think unfortunately for the government of Iran, it is going to face sanctions in the future, not only by my own but by other countries."

"We very much hope that these sanctions will not be implemented bluntly in a way that would be damaging to the Iranian people, but it is going to be sanctions that will get the attention of the Iranian government and directed at the people in that government," Burns said.

More of the interview with U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Burns will air on tomorrow's (April 15) show of News and Views.

News and Views is a daily one-hour television newscast to Iran that features correspondent reports and top news stories from Iran, the U.S., and around the world. More information on VOA Persian is available at www.VOANews.com/persian/News-and-Views.cfm

The Voice of America, which first went on the air in 1942, is a multimedia international broadcasting service funded by the U.S. government through the Broadcasting Board of Governors. VOA broadcasts more than 1,000 hours of news, information, educational, and cultural programming every week to an estimated worldwide audience of more than 100 million people. Programs are produced in 44 languages.

For more information, call the Office of Public Affairs at (202) 203-4959, or E-Mail publicaffairs@voa.gov.