Iran: Sanctions resolution deals another blow to Security Council’s credibility
Tehran Times Political Desk

TEHRAN - Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini has called the new UN resolution against Iran a violation of international law, saying it has harmed the United Nations’ credibility.

The UN Security Council on Monday issued a third sanctions resolution against Iran over its nuclear activities.

The sanctions resolution calls for more travel and financial curbs on Iranian individuals and companies and makes some restrictions mandatory. It also expands a previous partial ban on trade in items with both civilian and military uses to cover sales of all such technology to Iran, Reuters reported.

“This resolution runs counter to the regulations of the International Atomic Energy Agency. It has been issued based on political intentions and double standards. It is unacceptable and condemned,” Hosseini said here on Tuesday.

The Foreign Ministry spokesman criticized the 15-nation Security Council for disregarding a February 22 report by IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei which had vindicated the Islamic Republic by reaffirming the peaceful nature of its nuclear program.

“The Security Council issued the new resolution at a time when Iran’s full cooperation with the IAEA had resolved the remaining issues, each of which was viewed as a major problem by the United States and some anti-Iran countries.”

“This biased and anti-Iran resolution is another blow to the credibility of the International Atomic Energy Agency,” Hosseini observed.

He vowed that Iran would not relinquish its inalienable right to utilize peaceful nuclear technology and would continue its activities within the framework of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

President calls UN resolution against Iran a new mistake

Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad said any new sanctions resolution against Iran’s civilian nuclear activities would further downgrade the United Nations’ standing.

The Security Council made its previous anti-Iran decisions based on false information and the new resolution is a repetition of the previous mistakes, Ahmadinejad told the Spanish newspaper El Pais on Monday.

The president dismissed the major powers’ allegations about Iran’s nuclear program as a pretext to prevent the country from making scientific progress, asserting that the Westerners’ efforts to force Iran to abandon its civilian nuclear activities would fail.

Ahmadinejad said the UN nuclear watchdog is the only organization authorized to investigate Iran’s nuclear program and the latest IAEA report has clearly confirmed the non-diversion of Iran’s nuclear program toward weapons production.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has also announced that no evidence supports the U.S. accusations that Iran had conducted a study on the production of nuclear weapons.

New sanctions are illegal: Majlis speaker

Majlis Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel said the UN Security Council’s move to tighten sanctions against Iran is “illogical, illegal, and absolutely political.”

Addressing a rally at the University of Science and Technology of Iran, Haddad-Adel criticized the Security Council for taking measures against Iran despite the IAEA report which confirmed the transparency of Iran’s nuclear activities.

“This resolution was issued a few hours before ElBaradei presented a new report to the Board of Governors and clearly announced that the issues between Iran and the agency have been resolved, no diversion to developing weapons has been found in Iran’s nuclear activities, and Iran has developed constructive cooperation with the agency,” Haddad-Adel stated.

The fact that the IAEA report was dismissed proves that the West is playing politics with Iran’s nuclear dossier, he said, adding, “These resolutions only harm the UN Security Council’s credibility.”

Haddad-Adel also accused the Security Council of practicing double standards, citing its failure to denounce the Zionist regime’s crimes against innocent Palestinians.

“Some countries believe that Iran’s 3.5 percent uranium enrichment is a threat to global security, yet at the same time they see the Zionist regime undermines the security of Palestinians every day but they don’t feel threatened, and the Security Council is unable to condemn this event,” he stated

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