Last update - 00:00 13/02/2007
Rice: Iran should see N. Korea as example in nuclear standoff
By News Agencies
Following a six-party deal on North Korea's nuclear program signed Tuesday, United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that Iran should see North Korea as an example when considering its own nuclear standoff with Western nations.
"Why should it not be seen as a message to Iran that the international community is able to bring together its resources?" she said at a news conference.
The White House on Tuesday said the deal on North Korea's nuclear program was an important first step, but warned that the international community could still impose international sanctions if North Korea reneged on the agreement.
"We think it's a very important first step toward the denuclearization of North Korea and the Korean peninsula," White House spokesman Tony Snow said, adding that if the deal was not adhered to, "There's still the possibility of sanctions through the international community."
North Korea agreed Tuesday to take first steps toward nuclear disarmament and shut down its main reactor within 60 days before eventually dismantling its atomic weapons program.
Under the deal, the North will receive initial aid equal to 50,000 tons heavy fuel oil for shutting down and sealing its main nuclear reactor and related facilities at Yongbyon, north of the capital, to be confirmed by international inspectors. For irreversibly disabling the reactor and declaring all nuclear programs, the North will eventually receive another 950,000 tons in aid.
But making sure that Pyongyang declares all its nuclear facilities and shuts them down is likely to prove arduous, nuclear experts have said.
North Korea has sidestepped previous agreements, allegedly running a uranium-based weapons program even as it froze a plutonium-based one - sparking the latest nuclear crisis in late 2002. The country is believed to have countless mountainside tunnels in which to hide projects.
The agreement was read to all delegates in a conference room at a Chinese state guesthouse and Chinese envoy Wu Dawei asked if there were any objections. When none were made, the officials all stood and applauded.
Under the agreement, North Korea and United States will also embark on talks aimed at resolving disputes and restarting diplomatic relations, Wu said. The Korean peninsula has remained in a state of war for more than a half-century since the Korean War ended in a 1953 cease-fire.
If Pyongyang goes through with its promises, they would be the first moves the communist nation has made to scale back its atomic development after more that three years of six-nation negotiations marked by delays, deadlock and the North's first nuclear test explosion in October.
Under the agreement reached Tuesday, the United States will also begin the process of removing North Korea from its designation as a terror-sponsoring state and also on ending U.S. trade sanctions, but no deadlines was set, according to the agreement. Japan and North Korea also will seek to normalize relations.
The North will be required to list all its nuclear program - including plutonium it has already extracted from the Yongbyon reactor, the agreement says.
After the initial 60 days, a meeting will be held of foreign ministers from all countries at the talks - China, Japan, Russia, the United States and the two Koreas.
Under the agreement, five working groups are to meet within 30 days: denuclearization; normalization of U.S.-North Korea relations; normalization of North Korea-Japan relations; economy and energy cooperation; and peace and security in northeast Asia.
Another meeting of the nuclear envoys was scheduled March 19 to check on the groups' progress.
In September 2005 during the six-nation talks, North Korea was promised energy aid and security guarantees in exchange for pledging to abandon its nuclear programs. But talks on implementing that agreement repeatedly stalled on other issues.