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Iran Threatens Limited Checks, Withdrawal From NPT
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Larijani
said Tehran would link its oil business with individual countries based
on whose side they would take in the dispute. (Reuters)
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TEHRAN,
September 20, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Iran
threatened Tuesday, September 20, to limit UN inspections and
withdrawal from the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if its nuclear file
was sent to the UN Security Council, its toughest warning yet in
response to Western pressure.
"If
you want to use the language of force, Iran will be left with no
choice, in order to preserve its technical achievements, to get out of
the framework of the NPT and out of the framework of the additional
protocol, and resume enrichment," Ali Larijani, Iran's top
nuclear negotiator, was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse
(AFP).
Europe's
big three -- Britain, France and Germany – are lobbying members of
the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to refer the Iranian
file to the UN Security Council over "breaches" of
international nuclear safeguards.
The
trio threatened to push for a vote if consensus at the 35-nation board
can not be achieved, diplomats told AFP.
"If
you want to pressure beyond the NPT and take it to the Security
Council, you will not gain anything and only make trouble for
yourselves," warned Larijani, also secretary of Iran's Supreme
National Security Council.
Any
country can withdraw from any treaty, as stated in the Vienna
Convention on the Law of Treaties, provided that it gives a 3 months
notice in advance; an option that Iran is threatening to consider.
Iran
and the European Union embarked in December on negotiations towards a
long-term agreement to give Tehran trade, technology and security aid
and guarantees in return for it taking steps to reassure the
international community that its nuclear program is strictly peaceful.
The
US accuses Iran of having a secret program to manufacture nuclear
weapons.
Iran
staunchly denies the allegations and maintains that its nuclear
program is only designed to produce electricity.
The
right to peaceful nuclear technology is enshrined in the NPT that for
35 years has governed efforts to contain the spread of atomic weapons.
Oil
for Support
In
a more defiant note, Larijani warned that countries which lined up
with the Europeans and US against Iran would suffer consequences when
it came to their involvement with Iran's oil sector.
He
said Tehran would link its oil business and other economic trade with
individual countries based on whose side they would take in the
dispute.
"Those
countries that have economic transactions with Iran, especially in the
field of oil, have not defended Iran's rights so far.
"So
based on how much they defend Iran's national right will facilitate
their participation in Iran's economic field," Larijani said.
He
threatened that the future of a major contact recently signed with
Japan to develop Iran's Azadegan oil field "depends on their
(Japan's) conduct".
Larijani
did not refer to oil sales by Iran -- OPEC's second producer.
Opposition
Russia,
China, Brazil and non-aligned states oppose any referral of the
Iranian file to the UN Security Council and back Tehran's right to
peaceful nuclear activities.
They
fear such a measure could result in trade sanctions on Iran and thus
escalate the confrontation.
"Russia's
position is that for the moment there is no reason to consider the
issue of Iranian nuclear activities as very worrying," Alexander
Rumyantsev, the head of the Russian atomic energy agency, told
ITAR-TASS news agency.
Russia
is helping Iran build its first nuclear power reactor.
Of
the 14 IAEA board members belonging to the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM),
only two -- Singapore and Peru -- have said they will back a UN
referral. The rest would vote against it or abstain.
Iran's
supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed Tuesday, in a speech read
out on state television, that his country will "not surrender to
any sort of pressure and threat."
Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahadinejad told the Newsweek magazine in an
interview released Monday, September 19, that Islam "prohibits us
from having nuclear arms".
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