Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations. Photo: WEF.

Iran could use UN talks as cover to build a nuclear bomb, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told the Washington Post Thursday. Citing North Korea’s recent nuclear test, Moon said he would like to accelerate talks with Iran and give them new urgency.

“We should not give much more time to the Iranians, and we should not waste time,” Ban was quoted as saying. “We have seen what happened with the DPRK.”

This week North Korea says it successfully exploded a nuclear test device. The country was able to exploit years of international reticence to push forward with their nuclear program.

“It ended up that they [were] secretly, quietly, without any obligations, without any pressure, making progress,” Ban said.

The U.N. Security Council must “show a firm, decisive and effective, quick response,” Ban told the newspaper, saying the country must prove to the rest of the world it is not seeking nuclear weapons.

In a meeting in Tehran last year, Ban told Iran’s supreme leader and president that he is not convinced that their nuclear program is peaceful.

Thursday the International Atomic Energy Agency said it had failed to reach a deal with Iran that would give inspectors access to alleged nuclear facilities and couldn’t agree on a date for a future meeting.

In a meeting Thursday with Ban and E.U. High Representative Catherine Ashton, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said that his country’s patience is limited.

“We are not going to get trapped into a delay-after-delay process here,” Kerry said. “It is incumbent on the Iranians to prove that they are prepared to meet our willingness, President Obama’s willingness, again and again stated by the president, to be open to a diplomatic resolution here.”