Iran says IAEA will face consequences of decision

Press TV | Nov. 28, 2009

The UN nuclear watchdog will be the first to face the consequences of a newly-adopted resolution condemning Iran for its enrichment program, says a senior Iranian cleric.

On Friday, the governing board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) passed a German-sponsored resolution that calls on Iran to stop uranium enrichment and immediately freeze the construction of its newly revealed Fordo nuclear facility outside Tehran.

Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami responded to the move on Saturday, asserting that Iran will never be “forced”, or for that matter, “bribed” to relinquish its legal nuclear rights.

“Rather than hurting Iran, the new resolution will impair the UN nuclear watchdog and Security Council,” he said in a ceremony marking the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha (the Feast of the Sacrifice).

Khatami said Western countries are obligated “under law” to provide Tehran with the fuel it needs for the Tehran research reactor.

“If they fail to do so, Iran is well able to produce its own enriched uranium in order to keep the Tehran research reactor up and running,” he said.

MP says Iran should end IAEA membership

Tabnak | Nov. 28, 2009

If the UN nuclear watchdog member-states persist in bullying, Iran may withdraw from IAEA membership, said the deputy head of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission.

“If the powerful members of the IAEA continue with their bullying and with their illogical behavior, Majlis will exercise its right to review and decide on discontinuing Iran’s IAEA membership,” Mohammad-Esmail Kosary told the Islamic Student News Agency.

Kosary went on to criticize the U.S. and some of the Europeans for their decisions, saying that it “indicated they were under pressure from the Zionist lobby.”

“In the Geneva talks they agreed to make the Iranian proposed deal the focus of negotiations and they did and it was agreed that further talks would be held but not only did they walk away from talks, they also showed their instability in decision-making by passing the recent resolution against Iran,” he said. “As we have said before, we will continue with our activities legally and within the framework of the NPT and no changes will be made to our policies.”

Kosary went on to say that by voting on the resolution. the UN nuclear agency had violated NPT regulations. “Given that 10 countries did not vote for the resolution, it is clear that the agency has not reached a consensus on the matter and therefore the resolution is unacceptable,” he added.

Referring to the Russian and Chinese votes against Iran, Kosary said, “Our main motto is ‘No to the East, and No t o the West,’ and with this principal view, we will not make any concessions [in the face of deceitful behavior]; therefore, if Russia and China do not make the right decisions on Iran, we will treat them accordingly.”

Parliament to discuss future of Iran-IAEA cooperation

Press TV | Nov. 28, 2009

As Iran’s Parliament (Majlis) prepares to discuss a recently-passed IAEA resolution against Tehran, uncertainty surrounds the future of the country’s cooperation with the nuclear watchdog.

“Currently we don’t see any reason to limit our cooperation with the agency,” a leading member of the Iranian Parliament, Hossein Ebrahimi said on Saturday.

“We may, however, consider reducing our cooperation with the IAEA,” the member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee added.

Another member of the commission expressed similar sentiments, saying that the Parliament may go as far as to “consider withdrawing from the NPT, in its first reaction to the illegal and politically-motivated resolution.”

Furthermore, the Parliament “can prevent IAEA inspectors from entering the country,” Mohammad Karamirad who represents the western Iranian city of Kermanshah added.

The resolution, which was drafted by the P5+1 and passed in a 25-3 vote with six abstentions, urges Iran to clarify what it calls the purpose and the chronology of the plant’s construction. It also wants Iran to confirm it has no more hidden nuclear plants and no intentions whatsoever to build one.

Iran’s envoy to the UN nuclear watchdog, Ali Asghar Soltaniyeh, has warned that the resolution passed against the country’s nuclear work will only introduce tension to the “spirit of cooperation.”

“We expect the agency to play its essential role and facilitate technical cooperation … this environment of the agency should be depoliticized for we have to make sure that the agency will only focus on technical matters,” he said on Friday.

Iran not to be bullied by language of threat: IRGC

Press TV | Nov. 28, 2009

Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), Mohammad-Ali Jafari says threats and military action against Iran are the language of a bygone era.

“The era of threatening Iran with force is over, especially at a time when the majority of Iranians are willing to defend the Revolution and their country,” the Major General told a gathering in the southwestern city of Shiraz.

These intimidation techniques, Jafari continued, “even failed at the height of the nuclear issue, and now Iran is standing firm despite economic, political and cultural pressures.”

US President Barack Obama recently warned the Islamic Republic of “consequences,” should Tehran refuse to accept the IAEA-backed proposal on a nuclear fuel deal.

Gen. Safavi: Enemy seeks to cause disunity

Asr Iran | Nov. 28, 2009

An aide to the Iranian commander-in-chief and Supreme Leader warned Basijis to remain vigilant in the face of the enemy’s soft war tactics which aim to undermine national unity and provoke sedition.

Speaking on the occasion of “Basij week” in Tehran, Brigadier General Seyyed Yahya Rahim-Safavi said that the Basij’s vigilance was the source of “the Islamic Republic’s strength in the face of yesterday, today and tomorrow’s enemies.”

“Using media outlets and soft war [tactics] the enemy seeks to bring others to their knees and force them to submit to its will. They seek to change our desires according to their taste.”

“The enemy seeks to create sedition and thereby undermine our national unity and use the rift created to spread disunity and suspicion in our society,” he said.

Tehran’s response to IAEA resolution

Tabnak | Nov. 28, 2009

Iran will not yield to pressure, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said in reaction to the new IAEA resolution against Iran, according to Iran’s semi-official news agency.

“Under the present circumstances, when the nuclear program of the Islamic Republic, one of the credible members of the UN [nuclear] agency, has been repeatedly inspected [by the IAEA], and the non-diversion of the program toward military objectives has been testified to by IAEA inspectors, this resolution is but a test for independent and non-aligned countries to show how to go about ensuring their interests,” Mehr News Agency quoted Ramin Mehmanparast as saying.

“If our basic rights, granted under the statute of the agency as a signatory to the NPT [Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty], are not preserved, there will be no need for us to commit to our obligations to the agency even though we will continue to remain an IAEA member,” he went on to say.

He added that the IAEA resolution, which called for a halt to the activities of the Fordo nuclear plant, which is under construction, was a sham intended to put pressure on Tehran. He stressed that such measures would be ineffective.

Venezuelan students staged demonstration against Ahmadinejad

Asr Iran | Nov. 26, 2009

A number of Venezuelan students demonstrated against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to the Latin American country.

According to Venezuelan media, the demonstration was held outside Ahmadinejad’s hotel in Caracas.