With his trademark maverick rhetoric, Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad stressed that UN Security Council resolutions would not
halt his country's drive to acquire a nuclear program.
"Enemies of the Iranian nation are seeking to use the UN
Security Council to prevent Iran's progress," the official IRNA
news agency quoted Ahmadinejad, speaking at a rally in the central
Yazd province.
Ahmadinejad's remarks came shortly before the six powers -- the
United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany –
released an agreement fermented through arduous consultations over
the past two weeks.
Ahmadinejad scoffed at the penalty, saying that sanctions had
long been imposed on his country but that Tehran had still
progressed in nuclear research.
"What is the point of issuing such resolutions? The Iranian
people have mastered the nuclear fuel cycle," the Iranian president
said.
"Orders and decisions of the kind will not matter to the Iranian
nation and neither will any sanctions," Ahmadinejad said.
He further reiterated the peaceful intention of Iran's nuclear
activities, saying this process was "completely legal and monitored
by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)."
Iranian Parliament Speaker Gholam Ali Haddad Adel forewarned on
Thursday that more sanctions being piled in Iran would play into
the hands of Washington's Greater Middle East Initiative.
"The Americans who entered the region on the pretext of bringing
democracy and freedom are now seeking to sow discord between Shiite
and Sunni Muslims," Adel said while meeting visiting Syrian Prime
Minister Mohammed Naji Otri.
The Iranian parliament chief stated that Iran and Syria have a
duty, as influential nations in the region, to thwart the "satanic"
plots of the United States.
Also on Thursday, Iranian Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh said
that Iran remained unthreatened by the looming new UN sanctions,
illustrating that Iran had lived with a US economic embargo for the
last 25 years.
Vaziri-Hamaneh was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the
two-day Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
meeting (March 14-15) in Vienna.
Addressing any impact sanctions could have on Iran's development
plans, he said, "By providing incentives for domestic and foreign
investment, we have in fact improved our capacity in many areas,
particularly for the petrochemical and oil industries."
According to the draft agreed on by the UN Security Council
members plus Germany, nations and international financial
institutions are encouraged to halt any new commitments to Iran
such as "grants, financial assistance and concessional loans", with
an exception made for "humanitarian and developmental
purposes."
The agreement also proposes an embargo on conventional weapons
to Iran and cautions states to "exercise vigilance and restraint"
in any heavy weapons sales to Tehran.?
Meanwhile, a mandatory travel ban has been dropped to be
replaced with a call for restraint. The draft specifically mentions
that countries should "exercise vigilance and restraint" in barring
travel by Iranian officials that have ties to Iran's sensitive
nuclear activities or nuclear weapon delivery systems.
In regard to this issue, the draft further expands the blacklist
of Iranian officials included in the resolution adopted last
December.
Finally, the resolution extends the freeze of assets to
additional groups, companies and individuals that are linked to or
support sensitive nuclear activities or development of ballistic
missiles.
(Xinhua News Agency March 16, 2007)
