UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged the United States today to cool its rhetoric after Vice President Dick Cheney warned Tehran it would face "meaningful consequences" if it persisted in defying the international community through its nuclear program.
Mr Annan, in an interview on US public television's Charlie Rose Show, also predicted Tehran would use Washington's recent nuclear agreement with India to argue Western powers were relying on a double standard in seeking to crack down on its atomic ambitions.
"This is something they will use, the Indian agreement ... It does complicate the discussions with Iran and the deal with Iran," Mr Annan said.
Under a deal sealed last week during US President George W Bush's visit to New Delhi, which developed its nuclear weapons covertly, agreed to allow international inspections of the bulk of its nuclear power stations to ensure non-proliferation.
In return, it will gain access to US civilian nuclear technology, including fuel and reactors, that it was denied for 30 years. India's military nuclear facilities would not be subject to inspections under the deal.
At the same time, the US administration is pressing Iran to completely shut down a program to enrich uranium on its own soil, a plan Tehran insists is intended only to produce electric power but which Washington insists aims to develop nuclear bombs.
Mr Cheney, speaking to the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC yesterday, said the United States was keeping all options on the table in its determination to prevent Iran from developing nuclear arms.
"The Iranian regime needs to know that if it stays on its present course, the international community is prepared to impose meaningful consequences," Mr Cheney said. He spoke as the 35-nation governing board of the International Atomic Energy Agency was meeting in Vienna to decide its next steps on Iran.
Asked about Mr Cheney's remarks, Mr Annan noted that efforts were still under way to reach a negotiated settlement with Iran over the limits of its nuclear program.
"We should all try to lower the rhetoric and allow for calm, serious discussion on this issue," he said.
"But the Iranians will also have to understand what the world expects of them," he added. "They have to find a way of convincing the world they are not going to go the nuclear route."