UK Foreign Secretary William Hague has said that all options are on the table regarding Iran’s nuclear program in order to put more pressure on the country.
“We have never ruled anything out. We have not ruled out any option, or supporting any option. We believe all options should be on the table, that is part of the pressure on Iran,” Hague told Sky News on Sunday.
Britain and other Western states have stepped up sanctions over Iran following the release of a nuclear report by the International Atomic Energy Agency in November.
The British official also admitted that imposing sanctions could not curb Iran’s peaceful nuclear program.
“Sanctions policies do not always succeed,” Hague said. “But this is the best means we have of increasing the pressure.”
The last IAEA report accused Iran of conducting activities related to developing nuclear weapons before 2003, adding that these activities “may still be ongoing.”
Iran, however, dismissed the allegation as “unbalanced, unprofessional and prepared with political motivation and under political pressure mostly by the US.”
Western governments also threaten Tehran with a military strike over the country’s alleged nuclear weapons program.
The threats come despite that fact that Iran has the right to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the IAEA.
www.presstv.ir, 16 January 2012