Iran to revise ties with IAEA if sanctioned

December 24, 2006 - 0:0
TEHRAN -- Tehran will revise its ties with the IAEA if the UN Security Council issues a resolution over Iran’s nuclear program, Majlis Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel warned on Saturday.

“If the United Nations Security Council issues a resolution against Iran or adopts any approach other than negotiation, the parliament will reconsider the nature of its relationship with the International Atomic Energy Agency,” Haddad-Adel told Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB).

On Saturday, the Security Council voted on a resolution imposing sanctions on the Islamic Republic for its nuclear activities.

If the pressure on Iran increases, the Majlis will have to discuss a plan that has already been approved by the parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, Haddad-Adel said.

The bill would restrict IAEA inspections of Iran’s atomic facilities if sanctions are imposed.

“We insist that negotiation is the only solution. We have always been prepared for talks, but it was the Europeans who cut off the talks,” Haddad-Adel noted.

A leading Iranian MP said on Saturday that Tehran will not accept any UN Security Council resolution over its nuclear program.

“All Iran’s nuclear activities have been based on the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and international law, so (Tehran) will not accept any resolution,” Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Chairman Alaeddin Borujerdi told the Mehr News Agency.

“If this resolution is adopted, the Islamic Republic’s Supreme National Security Council will definitely respond.

“The resolution will not only have no effect on Iran’s policy and determination to continue its peaceful nuclear activities, but it will also make the government and parliament more determined to expand nuclear technology.

“The MPs on the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee believe that the policies for interacting with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) should be proportionate to the Security Council’s measures," the lawmaker added.

“As we have said many times before, the involvement of the Security Council in Iran’s nuclear dossier was a politically- motivated move adopted under U.S. pressure and has no legal basis.”

The National Security and Foreign Policy Committee has already approved a bill that would restrict IAEA inspections of Iran’s atomic facilities if sanctions are imposed.

Borujerdi said that the door to negotiations is still open, adding that talks are the only way to find a solution to the nuclear impasse.