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Iran: We don't fear UN
05/02/2006 10:11 - (SA)
Tehran - Iran said Sunday that it was still willing to negotiate with the international community over its nuclear programme and dismissed its referral by the UN nuclear watchdog to the security council.
"The door for negotiations is still open," foreign ministry spokesperson Hamid Reza Asefi told a news conference. "We don't fear the security council. It's not the end of the world."
The International Atomic Energy Agency on Saturday reported Iran to the UN security council over fears it wants to produce nuclear arms.
Iran responded by saying it would no longer allow intrusive IAEA inspections of its facilities and restart full-scale work on uranium enrichment.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad mocked the IAEA referral.
"Issue as many resolutions like this as you want and make yourself happy. "You can't prevent the progress of the Iranian nation," he said in comments carried by the official Islamic Republic News Agency.
"In the name of the IAEA they want to visit all our nuclear facilities and learn our defense capabilities, but we won't allow them to do this," Ahmadinejad said.
In the past, Iran had allowed short-notice, intrusive inspections of its facilities, including military sites.
But parliament passed a law late last year requiring the government to block intrusive inspections of Iran's facilities if the country is put before the security council.
It also required the government to resume all suspended nuclear activities, chief among them uranium enrichment.
Asefi reiterated that Iran would co-operate with the IAEA within the framework of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and the Safeguard Agreement.
"We chose our way wisely. We have solutions for all situations that may develop. "Referring Iran to the security council will definitely harm the other party more than Iran," Asefi said.
- AP
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