TEHRAN, 4 October 2005 — Iran threatened yesterday to use its “full might” to endanger US interests if Washington upped the pressure on Tehran over its disputed nuclear program. Washington and the European Union have prepared the ground for the governing board of the International Atomic Energy Agency to send Iran to the UN Security Council next month for possible sanctions for violating international nuclear obligations.
The United States and its European allies argue Iran is making atomic fuel for use in weapons, but Tehran says its nuclear program is dedicated solely to generating electricity.
Ali Larijani, secretary-general of Supreme National Security Council, said the United States, Iran’s archfoe, should end its aggressive policies against Tehran or face the consequences. “If pressured by America, Iran will use its full might to endanger America’s interests,” chief nuclear negotiator Larijani was quoted as saying by the Siyasat-e Rouz daily. Larijani did not elaborate. US officials have also repeatedly accused Iran of stirring up violence against their troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Iran denies the allegation.
The Khaleej Times daily in the United Arab Emirates quoted Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Saturday as saying Tehran may hold back on oil sales if its nuclear program is referred to the UN Security Council, without elaborating. The report was later denied by Ahmadinejad’s office.
Angered by last month’s IAEA resolution requiring Iran be reported at a future date to the Security Council, Iran has repeatedly said it would resume a full atomic fuel cycle if its case were referred.
But although Iran’s nuclear program has become a matter of national pride, many politicians have urged the clerical establishment to be more cautious with the West to avoid isolation and being reported to the Security Council.
Meanwhile, a group of around 150 women joined by a hard-line MP rallied outside the British Embassy in Tehran yesterday in the latest protest over Western pressure on Iran’s nuclear program.
Tehran female MP Nafiseh Fayazbakhsh labeled Britain, France and Germany — which have been leading negotiations aimed at assuring Iran’s nuclear program is strictly peaceful — as “nonbelievers who find new faults everyday and attack like dogs.”
Dozens of anti-riot police kept a close eye on the small rally, which passed off without incident. Several days ago a similar protest saw the British embassy again pelted with stones, firecrackers and tomatoes. The embassy is regularly targeted by protesters, and bears the brunt of anti-Western sentiment given that the US Embassy in Tehran was stormed and shut down after the 1979 revolution.
