Iran faces a United Nations Security Council deadline today to stop enriching uranium. At the UN Wednesday, US Ambassador John Bolton warned the US will seek sanctions if Iran fails to comply.

• US Ambassador John Bolton: “In terms of Iran, we’ve said repeatedly that we expect that no later than August the 31st, pursuant to Security Council resolution 1696 that the Iranians will suspend all uranium enrichment-related activity. Now if they haven’t done that by August the 31st we’ve also said repeatedly and the foreign ministers of the five permanent members of the Security Council in Germany have agreed, that we will come to the Security Council to seek sanctions.”

The New York Times is reporting the push for sanctions may be hampered by a new report today from the International Atomic Energy Agency. The report says Tehran has made only slow progress in uranium enrichment and doesn’t have the capability to produce uranium for nuclear weapons. Iran continues to insist its nuclear program is peaceful and should be dealt with as part of comprehensive negotiations. Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi spoke earlier today on a visit to Japan.

• Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi: “We are confident about the peaceful nature of our programme. If there is also goodwill and sincerity on the other side, we are sure we can reach a good solution and good conclusion through negotiations. We hope we can start negotiations as soon as possible.”