Washington: The White House on Friday cast doubt
on Iran's claims to have increased uranium enrichment to 20
percent, saying some of Tehran's statements were based on
politics, and not science.
"We do not believe they have the capacity to enrich to
the degree to which they say they are now enriching," said
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.
The White House said it is closely monitoring the
developments in Iran.
"We continue to monitor events as they happen and try to
get the best available information, understanding that a lot
of media, Google, and other Internet services have been
basically unplugged," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs
said.
"I think the (US) President was very clear in his speech
in Oslo that we stand by the universal rights of Iranians to
express themselves freely and to do so without intimidation or
violence," Gibbs said, referring to Obama's speech after
receiving the Nobel peace prize.
Iranians have gone out into the streets to do just that
in a peaceful way. We will continue to monitor it and continue
to express our condemnation and dismay for any violence that
should happen as a result of the exercising of those universal
rights, Gibbs said.
He said Google has not been in touch with the White House
regarding Iran.
The State Department spokesman, meanwhile, said the US
has strong indications that Iran has tried to restrict access
to the Internet.
"This is not about what outsiders are doing or alleged to
be doing. This is about the fundamental relationship between
the Iranian government and their people. It's been eight
months now since the election, and the Iranian people are
determined. They continue to protest for their rights which we
believe are universal principles, the freedom of assembly, the
freedom to express their views," Crowley said.
This continuing intimidation by the Iranian government is
of great concern to us. We think it shows the increasing
bankruptcy of the Iranian regime, he said.
PTI
First Published: Friday, February 12, 2010, 09:25