Iran rejects nuclear deadline set by UN
Tuesday Aug 1 05:45 AEST
Iranian UN Ambassador Javad Zarif has rejected a Security Council demand that Iran suspend its nuclear activities by the end of August or face the threat of sanctions, saying the action is without legal basis.
"Iran's peaceful nuclear program poses no threat to international peace and security and therefore dealing with this issue in the Security Council is unwarranted and void of any legal basis or practical utility," Zarif told the council.
The UN Security Council adopted a resolution demanding the suspension by a vote of 14 to 1, with Qatar, the only Arab member of the council, voting against.
The resolution, under negotiation for weeks, demanded that Iran "suspend all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development."
If Iran did not comply by August 31, the council will consider adopting "appropriate measures" under Article 41 of Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which pertains to economic sanctions, the draft says.
The resolution is the first on Iran with legally binding demands and a threat to consider sanctions. The United States and its allies suspect Iran is developing a nuclear bomb and accuse it of hiding research over 18 years.
On the eve of the anticipated vote, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a news conference the resolution was unacceptable and his country had the right "to take advantage of peaceful nuclear technology".
Germany and the council's five permanent members with veto power - the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain - negotiated the text.
But Russia and China are reluctant to impose sanctions and Moscow's UN ambassador, Valery Churkin, has said the sanctions provision only means the council will have "a discussion" on punitive measures.
Churkin also said the August 31 date was to meet Iran's request that it be given until August 22 to respond to an offer in June from the six nations of an energy, commercial and technological package if Tehran suspended its nuclear work.
Britain's UN Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry told reporters before the vote, "Our message to Iran is that we are open to negotiations (and) the package is quite clear (in) what it offers and what it requires."
"If Iran is prepared to take those steps then we can move forward constructively," Jones Parry said.
©AAP 2006
!ran is an unstable country full of extremists, those warheads can easily get into hands of other people. Before we know it, Hamas, Hizbollah n Ansar al Sunna will be runing around with nuke as thier new toys!
once the mullahs of !ran get their hands on nuclear weapons, we can kiss democracy in !ran goodbye for God knows how long..
