Obama warns Iran: ‘Come clean’ on nukes

updated 1:13 a.m. ET Sept. 26, 2009

PITTSBURGH - Backed by other world powers, President Barack Obama declared Friday that Iran is speeding down a path to confrontation and demanded that Tehran quickly "come clean" on all nuclear efforts and open a newly revealed secret site for close international inspection. He said he would not rule out military action if the Iranians refuse.

Obama joined the leaders of Britain and France in accusing the Islamic republic of clandestinely building an underground plant to make nuclear fuel that could be used to build an atomic bomb. Iranian officials acknowledged the facility but insisted it had been reported to nuclear authorities as required.

"Iran's action raised grave doubts" about its promise to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes only, Obama told a news conference at the conclusion of a G-20 summit whose focus on world economic recovery was overshadowed by disclosure of the Iranian plant.

Obama said a telling moment could come next week when Iran meets with U.S. and other major nations to discuss the nuclear issue.

"Iran is on notice that when we meet with them on Oct. 1 they are going to have to come clean and they are going to have to make a choice" between international isolation and giving up any aspirations to becoming a nuclear power, he said. If they refuse to give ground, they will stay on "a path that is going to lead to confrontation."

The president said his preferred course of action is to resolve the standoff diplomatically.

"When we find that diplomacy does not work, we will be in a much stronger position to, for example, apply sanctions that have bite," he said. "That's not the preferred course of action. I would love nothing more than to see Iran choose the responsible path."

Earlier, Obama and the leaders of France and Britain, in Pittsburgh for a world economic summit, accused Iran of clandestinely building an underground plant to make nuclear fuel. Obama called the international response “an unprecedented show of unity.”

The leaders demanded that Iran open all nuclear sites for inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Brown: "Serial deception'
Unbowed, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said his country had done nothing wrong and Obama would regret his accusations.

Video   Western power Sept. 25: Leaders from U.S., Britain and France hold a press conference to discuss Iran's nuclear facility. msnbc tv

At a news conference in New York, Ahmadinejad said the plant wouldn't be operational for 18 months but sidestepped a question about whether Iran had sufficient enriched uranium to manufacture a nuclear weapon. Still, he said such armaments "are against humanity, they are inhumane," and he said anyone who pursues them "is retarded politically."

Later Friday on CNN's "Larry King Live," Ahmadinejad said Iran did inform international authorities about its program and questioned what exactly Obama found fault with.

"We exceeded our commitment to the agency based on the regulations, and so is Mr. Obama really questioning why we informed the agency," Ahmadinejad said, referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The head of Iran's nuclear program suggested U.N. inspectors would be allowed to visit the site. Ali Akbar Salehi called the facility "a semi-industrial plant for enriching nuclear fuel" that is not yet complete, but he gave no other details, according to the state news agency IRNA.

The plant, near the holy city of Qom southwest of Tehran, would be about the right size to enrich enough uranium to produce one or two bombs a year, but inspectors must get inside to know what is actually going on, one U.S. official said.

Threat of sanctions
At his Pittsburgh news conference, Obama appeared to hold out limited hope for the Oct. 1 meeting, which will be the first of its kind in more than a year. Iran has said its nuclear program should not be on the agenda.

Video   Ahmadinejad: Nuclear plant in 'beginning stages' Sept. 25: Iranian President insists that Iran's nuclear plant is in compliance with international rules. NBC's Ann Curry reports. Nightly News

"When we find that diplomacy does not work, we will be in a much stronger position to, for example, apply sanctions that have bite," Obama said. "That's not the preferred course of action. I would love nothing more than to see Iran choose the responsible path."

He said he was confident in the reliability of the intelligence information about Iran's secret nuclear facilities.

"This was the work product of three intelligence agencies, not just one," Obama said. "They checked over this work in a painstaking fashion."

Obama said he was especially pleased that Russia and China agreed with him that Iran must live up to its obligations under international rules on nuclear activities. The leaders of Britain and France joined Obama at his morning announcement.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, at his own news conference in Pittsburgh, urged Iran to cooperate and "demonstrate its good intentions" at the Oct. 1 meeting and in allowing inspections. "We call on Iran to show maximum cooperation with the IAEA on this issue," he said, a reference to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Beyond tougher economic sanctions, options for acting against Iran are limited and perilous.

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