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Chances of this turning out with a happy ending is going away quickly.
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer
5 minutes ago
TEHRAN, Iran - The Iranian parliament threatened in a letter to U.N. Secretary General
Kofi Annan Sunday to force the government to withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty if the United States and its allies kept pressuring Tehran to suspend uranium enrichment.
The letter warned that Annan and the Security Council must resolve the dispute over
Iran's nuclear program "peacefully, (or) there will be no option for the parliament but to ask the government to withdraw its signature" from an addendum to the treaty that calls for signers to allow snap inspections by the
International Atomic Energy Agency, the treaty monitoring body.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also reiterated that he would not hesitate to reconsider NPT membership.
The U.S. Ambassador to the
United Nations, John Bolton, dismissed the Iranian parliament's threat and said it would not deter Western nations trying to push through a new U.N. resolution demanding Tehran stop uranium enrichment.
"This is a typical Iranian threat. It shows they remain desperate to conceal that their nuclear program is in fact a weapons program," he said. "I'm confident that these statements from Iran will not deter the sponsors of the draft resolution from proceeding in the Security Council."
Bolton said he believed the resolution would move to a vote next week — with or without support from Moscow and Beijing.
The Iranian use of the word "peacefully" in the letter was seen as a reference to a diplomatic solution short of a Security Council vote and possible sanctions.
The United States is backing attempts by Britain and France to draw up a U.N. resolution that would declare Iran in violation of international law if it does not suspend uranium enrichment — a process that can produce fuel for nuclear reactors to generate electricity or, if sufficiently processed, the materials for atomic weapons.
Iran's antagonists on the issue want to invoke Chapter 7 of the U.N. charter that could lead to economic sanctions or possibly military action.
Russia and China, the other two permanent Security Council members that wield veto power oppose such action.
Iran already had stopped snap IAEA inspections, saying its 2003 agreement was being implemented voluntarily and had not been ratified by parliament and the Guardian Council, a powerful oversight body dominated by Islamic hard-liners. The protocol allows unfettered and unannounced IAEA inspections to ensure overall compliance with the NPT.
The letter, which was read on state radio, also said lawmakers would order a "review" of Article 10 of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, the section of the agreement that outlines procedures for withdrawal.
Article 10 allows signatories to pull out of the treaty if they decide that extraordinary events have jeopardized their own supreme interests. A nation wanting to withdraw must give fellow treaty signers and the U.N. three months notice and detail events leading up to the decision.
North Korea withdrew from the treaty in 2003 on that basis.
"If a signature on an international treaty causes the rights of a nation be violated, that nation will reconsider its decision and that treaty will be invalid," Ahmadinejad told the official Islamic Republic News Agency.
The U.S. and its allies "don't give us anything and yet they want to impose sanctions on us," the president said. He called threats of sanctions "meaningless" and vowed to "smash their illegitimate resolutions against a wall."
Also Sunday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said again that there was nothing the international community could do to prompt Iran to suspend uranium enrichment, declaring that "intervention by the Security Council in this issue is completely illegal."
Briefing reporters, Asefi also said Iran's opponents were driven by "political motivations."
"Countries sponsoring the draft resolution (Britain, France and the United States) have political motivations," Asefi said. "It's clear that any action by the
U.N. Security Council will leave a negative impact on our cooperation with the IAEA."
"Intervention by the U.N. Security Council would change the path of cooperation to confrontation. We recommend they do not do this," he said.
Iran insists its nuclear program is designed only to make fuel for reactors to generate electricity, and the IAEA says there is no evidence Iran has a nuclear weapons program.
"The U.N. Security Council should not take any action that it cannot later undo. We won't give up our rights and the issue of suspension (of enrichment) is not on our agenda," Asefi said.
5 minutes ago
TEHRAN, Iran - The Iranian parliament threatened in a letter to U.N. Secretary General
Kofi Annan Sunday to force the government to withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty if the United States and its allies kept pressuring Tehran to suspend uranium enrichment.
The letter warned that Annan and the Security Council must resolve the dispute over
Iran's nuclear program "peacefully, (or) there will be no option for the parliament but to ask the government to withdraw its signature" from an addendum to the treaty that calls for signers to allow snap inspections by the
International Atomic Energy Agency, the treaty monitoring body.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also reiterated that he would not hesitate to reconsider NPT membership.
The U.S. Ambassador to the
United Nations, John Bolton, dismissed the Iranian parliament's threat and said it would not deter Western nations trying to push through a new U.N. resolution demanding Tehran stop uranium enrichment.
"This is a typical Iranian threat. It shows they remain desperate to conceal that their nuclear program is in fact a weapons program," he said. "I'm confident that these statements from Iran will not deter the sponsors of the draft resolution from proceeding in the Security Council."
Bolton said he believed the resolution would move to a vote next week — with or without support from Moscow and Beijing.
The Iranian use of the word "peacefully" in the letter was seen as a reference to a diplomatic solution short of a Security Council vote and possible sanctions.
The United States is backing attempts by Britain and France to draw up a U.N. resolution that would declare Iran in violation of international law if it does not suspend uranium enrichment — a process that can produce fuel for nuclear reactors to generate electricity or, if sufficiently processed, the materials for atomic weapons.
Iran's antagonists on the issue want to invoke Chapter 7 of the U.N. charter that could lead to economic sanctions or possibly military action.
Russia and China, the other two permanent Security Council members that wield veto power oppose such action.
Iran already had stopped snap IAEA inspections, saying its 2003 agreement was being implemented voluntarily and had not been ratified by parliament and the Guardian Council, a powerful oversight body dominated by Islamic hard-liners. The protocol allows unfettered and unannounced IAEA inspections to ensure overall compliance with the NPT.
The letter, which was read on state radio, also said lawmakers would order a "review" of Article 10 of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, the section of the agreement that outlines procedures for withdrawal.
Article 10 allows signatories to pull out of the treaty if they decide that extraordinary events have jeopardized their own supreme interests. A nation wanting to withdraw must give fellow treaty signers and the U.N. three months notice and detail events leading up to the decision.
North Korea withdrew from the treaty in 2003 on that basis.
"If a signature on an international treaty causes the rights of a nation be violated, that nation will reconsider its decision and that treaty will be invalid," Ahmadinejad told the official Islamic Republic News Agency.
The U.S. and its allies "don't give us anything and yet they want to impose sanctions on us," the president said. He called threats of sanctions "meaningless" and vowed to "smash their illegitimate resolutions against a wall."
Also Sunday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said again that there was nothing the international community could do to prompt Iran to suspend uranium enrichment, declaring that "intervention by the Security Council in this issue is completely illegal."
Briefing reporters, Asefi also said Iran's opponents were driven by "political motivations."
"Countries sponsoring the draft resolution (Britain, France and the United States) have political motivations," Asefi said. "It's clear that any action by the
U.N. Security Council will leave a negative impact on our cooperation with the IAEA."
"Intervention by the U.N. Security Council would change the path of cooperation to confrontation. We recommend they do not do this," he said.
Iran insists its nuclear program is designed only to make fuel for reactors to generate electricity, and the IAEA says there is no evidence Iran has a nuclear weapons program.
"The U.N. Security Council should not take any action that it cannot later undo. We won't give up our rights and the issue of suspension (of enrichment) is not on our agenda," Asefi said.
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