The United Nations Security Council has unanimously approved a statement calling on Iran to fully suspend all uranium-enrichment activities.
The full 15-member Security Council backed the text by consensus late on March 29, after several weeks of negotiations among the council's five permanent, veto-holding members -- Russia, the United States, China, France, and Britain.

The statement requests that the UN's nuclear watchdog agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency, report back in 30 days on Iran's compliance with demands to stop enriching uranium, a process that can lead to the development of a nuclear weapon.

The statement offers no indication of what the Security Council might do if Iran fails to halt such work.

John Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, said the council's statement sends a clear message to Iran.

"The message we're sending is a message to the government of Iran, that has been pursuing nuclear weapons - a very clear message that we want a response from the government of Iran," Bolton said. "And the response we want is full compliance with the obligations it voluntarily undertook under the [Nuclear] Nonproliferation Treaty."

Iran's UN ambassador, Javad Zarif, who was denied a chance to address the Security Council, told reporters that Iran is not seeking nuclear weapons but will not abandon its right to nuclear energy because of international threats.

"Iran will want to cooperate with the international community, but it does not accept pressure or intimidation," Zarif said. "As I said, and I repeat: We are allergic to pressure and intimidation and we do not respond well to that.”

The Iranian nuclear issue is expected to be discussed in Berlin later today during a meeting of the foreign ministers of the permanent five Security Council members, plus Germany.

PHOTO CAPTION

Members of Security Council listen as Cesar Mayoral, Ambassador of Argentina to the U.N. and president of the Security Council for the month of March reads a Presidential Statement at the Security Council regarding the nuclear program of Iran at U.N. Headquarters in New York, Wednesday, March 29, 2006. (AP)