The Politico and Yahoo! News, Washington, DC August 7, 2008(excerpts)- In an interview with Mike Allen of the Politico and Yahoo News, US Secretary of State Rice said:
Yesterday, the P5+1, the group that has offered Iran this very generous package but has also demanded that Iran stop its enrichment and reprocessing, the political directors met.
They agreed that the Iranian answer is not adequate, that it is not a really serious answer. And so we’re now going to begin to consult on how to get back on the second track, which is to move again toward Security Council – toward a Security Council resolution. We’ve always said Iran has a way out if they ever wish, but we will seriously pursue sanctions if they don’t.
QUESTION: Madame Secretary, the time is running. Both the National Intelligence Estimate and the Israelis have said that at this rate, by 2010, they could have a nuclear weapon. Do you think that the time is coming when sanctions won’t be enough? What other sort of diplomatic, military options might we have to consider?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, the President keeps all of his options on the table, but we still believe that the diplomatic option can work and that there is time for it to work.I don’t want to try to get into timelines. The fact is that we’re working at it every day.
There is a coalition of states as well as Security Council resolutions that show the Iranians what they have to do. And we have to remember that it’s not just the Security Council resolutions, but a number of other financial measures that the United States, Europe, and others have taken, and a number of companies and banks that have gotten voluntarily out of Iran because of the reputational risk and because of the investment risk. And you have to hope that there are reasonable people in Iran who see this as not the way to run a country.
QUESTION: I mean, you have to hope, but what are the chances? How optimistic are you that it will work?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, I think there is a lot of ferment in Iran right now. You read in the newspapers, even in – even in their newspapers, as controlled as they are, a lot of questioning of the policies of President Ahamdinejad. After all, inflation is running wild in Iran. It’s a country that’s experiencing, of all things, brownouts in a country that has as much energy as it does.
