MPs urge govt. to reduce cooperation with IAEA
Tehran Times Political Desk

TEHRAN - Iranian MPs have urged the administration to reduce the country’s level of cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The move came on Sunday, two days after the UN nuclear watchdog voted to rebuke Iran for building a second uranium enrichment plant.

“The resolution passed by the (IAEA) Board of Governors on Iran’s nuclear issue was politically motivated and lacked a consensus. Although Mr. ElBaradei confirmed Iran’s nuclear program is peaceful for the 21st time in his latest report, this resolution was passed,” the lawmakers said in a statement issued on Sunday.

They also emphasized that the Islamic Republic of Iran will press ahead with its peaceful nuclear activities and said that the IAEA, as a technical body, should avoid actions that could undermine its credibility.

In addition, they asked President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s administration to submit a plan on reducing Iran’s cooperation with the UN body to the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee.

The MPs said certain major powers, especially the United States and Britain, were the driving force behind the decision to refer Iran’s nuclear dossier to the UN Security Council and insisted that it should be returned to the IAEA as soon as possible.

U.S. President Barack Obama has not been able to make the slightest change in the policies of his country and is still following the hard line of the Bush administration, the statement added.

Outdate games

Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani also warned the 5+1 group (five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany) that Tehran will consider new options if they do not revise their policy toward Iran.

“Do not imagine that such old and outdated games will create a new opportunity as a bargaining chip for you,” Larijani said in reaction to the adoption of the IAEA board’s resolution

“You should not act in a way that the Majlis and the Iranian nation adopt another option and reduce cooperation with the agency greatly,” Larijani explained.

The resolution showed that what whims the United States and a number of other Western countries had in their mind about exchanging low enriched uranium for a 20 percent enriched uranium for the Tehran nuclear reactor, Larijani noted.

This resolution showed that they were seeking a kind of “political cheating” otherwise they should have thanked Iran for declaring the Fordo nuclear site earlier than the legally allowed time rather than using it as a pretext to issue resolution against Iran.

He said the resolution showed that Iran should act more cautiously in the face of “opportunistic proposals” put forward by them.

The speaker also said, “We will carefully monitor your next measures and if (you) do not give up the ridiculous carrot and stick policy we will adopt a new approach in our behavior with you.” -

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