Iran calls Security Council debates on its nuclear program illegal and 'futile'

The Associated Press

TEHRAN, Iran: Tehran on Saturday called illegal and "futile" U.N. Security Council debates for new sanctions against Iran, saying sanctions would undermine, not strengthen, global security.

The U.S. push for a third round of sanctions against Iran is an "exercise in futility," said government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham.

He made the remarks after Britain and France delayed a Security Council vote on new sanctions against Iran until Monday to try to get more support for the resolution. The two countries are co-sponsoring the resolution that would impose a third round of sanctions on Iran for refusing to halt uranium enrichment.

In a television interview later on Saturday, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that a new round of sanctions would prove that the criticism of Iran's nuclear program is entirely politically motivated.

"It would be become clear that our nuclear issue was not a legal and technical issue, because the (U.N. Nuclear agency) IAEA, as the responsible body, said there was no diversion. We said from the beginning that it was a political pretext not a legal and technical issue."

Iran says a report released by the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency last week has vindicated Iran's nuclear program and left no justification for any Security Council sanctions.

"The Security Council's re-entry into (Iran's) nuclear issue lacks legal justification," Elham told a press conference Saturday. "Any action (new sanctions against Iran) will be a violation of the Security Council's philosophy of existence and a violation of the charter of the United Nations."

Iran has rejected two previous Security Council resolutions as "illegal", saying it will never give up its right under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to enrich uranium and produce nuclear fuel.

The 11-page report by the International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei last week said all major past issues surrounding Iran's nuclear activities had been fully resolved or are "no longer outstanding at this stage," repeatedly saying the IAEA's findings are consistent with information available to the agency and explanations provided by Iran.

The U.S., however, said the report actually strengthens the case for additional sanctions because it also says Iran failed to heed Security Council demands to halt uranium enrichment.

"Given the IAEA report, Security Council debates are nothing but a pretext and hostility towards Iran. It shows they (the U.S. and its allies) are opposed to Iran's scientific development," Elham told reporters.

Elham insisted Iran will "not trade its independence at any price", insisting that Iran will not give in to Security Council demands to halt uranium enrichment.

Iran insists its enrichment activities are intended only for peaceful civilian purposes, but the U.S., the European Union and others suspect its real aim is to produce atomic weapons.

The draft Security Council resolution would expand travel restrictions and the freezing of assets to more Iranian officials linked to the nuclear effort. It also would ban trade with Iran in goods which have both civilian and military uses and introduce financial monitoring on two banks with suspected links to proliferation activities.

The resolution also would authorize inspections of shipments to and from Iran that are suspected of carrying prohibited goods.