Cheney warns Iran of 'consequences'

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration drew a hard line on Iran yesterday, warning of ''meaningful consequences" if the Islamic government does not back away from an international confrontation over its disputed nuclear program.

Edging toward the UN Security Council review it has long sought, Washington rejected any potential 11th-hour compromise that would allow Iran to process nuclear fuel that could be used for weapons.

Vice President Dick Cheney said the United States and other nations are in agreement that ''we will not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon."

''The Iranian regime needs to know that if it stays on its present course, the international community is prepared to impose meaningful consequences," Cheney said.

Speaking to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel lobbying group, Cheney did not specify what the United States would do but said it ''is keeping all options on the table." American officials have said the government has no plans for military force but will not rule it out.

The United States, Israel, and several Arab nations fear development of an Iranian bomb would put Israel at risk or forever change the balance of power in the Middle East.

Russia, which has played middleman on Iran since the breakdown of talks between Tehran and European nations, reassured US officials that it remains on board as the UN nuclear watchdog agency again took up the Iran case in Vienna. The Security Council could have full purview over the issue by week's end, but there is no timetable for action there.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States is not seeking sanctions against Iran ''as a first matter."

Russia has proposed a joint venture in which it would enrich uranium on Iran's behalf, keeping that critical component of the nuclear fuel process from potential misuse in Iran. The United States supports the plan in principle, but Iran has not signed on.

Rice and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov of Russia rejected the notion of a separate compromise that would see Iran suspend full-scale uranium enrichment for up to two years but retain a small enrichment program.

''The United States has been very clear that enrichment and reprocessing on Iranian soil is not acceptable because of the proliferation risk," Rice said.

A diplomat said Iran made the suspension offer during talks in Moscow last week. The offer reflected Tehran's attempts to escape Security Council action over the enrichment, which can be used to make nuclear arms. The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity because the information was confidential.

''There is no compromise new Russian proposal," Lavrov said.

Russia, which has veto power as a permanent member of the Security Council, is perhaps Tehran's most important ally and business partner. Russia has gone along with US efforts to refer the nuclear issue to the council but has never said it would support sanctions or other harsh UN punishment.

''Have you seen a proposal for any sanctions?" Lavrov snapped at reporters following an Oval Office meeting with President Bush yesterday. ''This is a hypothetical question, yes?"

At the State Department earlier, Lavrov appeared to warn the United States not to push Iran so hard that it withdraws from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty or kicks out international inspectors.

The treaty allows for some UN oversight of a nascent nuclear program that Iran says is meant to one day produce nuclear energy, not bombs. The UN International Atomic Energy Agency has accused Iran of violating the treaty and concealing the extent of its nuclear activities. A possible Security Council rebuke could be based on those findings, along with anything new that inspectors turn up.

''In our view, any solution should take into account the desirability, very high desirability, to continue to investigate into the past program of Iran so that all the questions which the international community has could be answered by the experts," Lavrov said at a joint press conference with Rice.

The Bush administration also wanted Russian assurances that Moscow will not coddle Hamas now that the Islamic militants have taken control of the Palestinian Legislature.

Russian President Vladimir Putin invited Hamas leaders to Moscow last weekend, a move that angered Israel and surprised the United States and Russia's other partners in the so-called Quartet of Mideast negotiators.