TEHRAN, 13 September 2007 — Iran yesterday warned that its current policy of increased cooperation with the UN atomic watchdog would be “in danger” if a third set of UN sanctions was imposed against the Islamic republic.
“We have taken a very important step, and if there is an illogical step then we will reconsider this strategy,” Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani told reporters.
Iran is currently answering outstanding questions from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over its contested nuclear program, which the United States claims is aimed at making nuclear weapons. Iran’s ambassador to the agency Ali Asghar Soltanieh had earlier warned that “any interference or politically motivated interference will definitely jeopardize the new constructive trend.”
The UN Security Council has issued two sanctions resolutions against Tehran for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment, a process that can be used to make nuclear weapons, and Western powers have warned of more action.
Larijani also reaffirmed Tehran’s refusal to halt sensitive nuclear activities as demanded by the Security Council, saying such a suspension belonged to the past.
His comments came as the IAEA’s 35-nation board of governors at a meeting in Vienna discussed a report from the agency’s chief Mohamed El-Baradei on the Iranian nuclear program.
“We will respond to any (hostile) measures and there will be a total shift in our strategy. If they make a mistake, Iran’s approach will change,” Larijani warned.
Iran’s foreign minister met the head of Russia’s atomic energy agency in Moscow yesterday but a Russian official said they did not tackle the vexed issue of the Bushehr nuclear plant Russia is building for Tehran.
Russia’s work on the plant has been drawn into the international row over Iran’s nuclear ambitions, with the United States urging Moscow to halt construction. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and Sergei Kiriyenko, head of Russian state atomic energy agency Rosatom, were meeting in their capacity as co-chairs of a Russian-Iranian inter-governmental commission.
