TEHRAN – Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini on Sunday criticized Libya for voting in favor of UN sanctions against Iran at the Security Council.

The UN Security Council on March 3 issued a third sanctions resolution against the Islamic Republic over its nuclear activities.
“In view of the stances of Libyan ambassador to the United Nations, this country’s vote for sanctions was unexpected for us,” Hosseini told reporters at his weekly press briefing.
Mottaki to attend Arab League summit
Hosseini said that Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki will represent Iran at the Arab League summit, which is scheduled to be held in Damascus at the end of this month.
Mottaki had also attended the summit last year in Riyadh following the host’s invitation, he added.
No direct talks with U.S.
Hosseini said a statement by former U.S. secretary of state Henry Kissinger who had called for direct talks between Iran and the U.S. are based on his “personal analysis”.
Tehran has not received any messages from official channels in this regard, and the country does not have any plans for direct talks with the U.S., he noted.
Kissinger said on Thursday the United States should negotiate directly with Iran over its nuclear program and other bilateral issues.
“One should be prepared to negotiate, and I think we should be prepared to negotiate about Iran,” Kissinger said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. Asked whether he meant the U.S. should hold direct talks, he responded: “Yes, I think we should.”
Iran stance toward Iraq “unchanged”
Hosseini said Baghdad is making some efforts to arrange a new round of talks between Iran and the U.S. on the security situation in Iraq.
“Our stance toward Iraq issues and the talks has not changed, and if we receive any suggestions, we will study it,” he stated.
The Islamic Republic and the U.S. held talks on Iraq on May 28, July 24, and August 6, 2007, at expert level. A fourth round of negotiations which was planned for March 6 was cancelled by the U.S. side.
ElBaradei report more positive than negative
The negative points in the IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei’s report on Iran’s nuclear activities are very “few” compared to the positive points, Hosseini stated.
ElBaradei presented a report on Iran’s nuclear program to the International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors on Feb. 22 which vindicated the country by reaffirming its nuclear transparency.
“In general, we evaluate the report positive,” he stated, adding that since the remaining questions between Iran and the agency have been resolved and this was mentioned in the report, the nuclear dossier has become normal.
UN Security Council issued a third resolution on March 3 against Iran, which placed additional sanctions on the Islamic Republic over its nuclear activities.
Security Council resolutions will not influence any part of Iran’s nuclear activities, the foreign ministry spokesman asserted