Iran threatens to halt co-op with IAEA upon UN referral
Iran threatens to halt co-op with IAEA upon UN referral www.chinaview.cn 2006-01-19 13:53:15
LONDON, Jan. 19 (Xinhuanet) -- Iran has threatened to halt its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) once its nuclear activities are referred to the UN Security Council.
"All the activities which we are voluntarily doing in accordance with additional protocols, including the complementary accesses (and) short notice access that we have granted... even to the military sites, will not be continued any more," said Dr Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's ambassador to the IAEA, in an interview on BBC late Wednesday.
Soltanieh made the remark when he was asked whether Iran would halt cooperation if IAEA's 35-member Board of Governors votes for a referral in a scheduled meeting on Feb. 2.
But Soltanieh said that Iran's resumption of nuclear research does not mean it expects a stand-off. He insisted that the research is entirely for peaceful means.
He added as the IAEA is monitoring its nuclear facilities, it is out of the question for Iran to secretly develop nuclear weapons.
Soltanieh criticized those nations seeking to haul his country before the Security Council for possible sanctions, saying the gate to negotiation is still wide open, although the United Statesand the European Union have rejected the idea of further talks.
Foreign Ministers of the European trio of France, Germany and Britain decided to refer Iran's nuclear activities to the UN Security Council when they met in Berlin on Jan. 12.
Iran resumed its research on nuclear fuel earlier this month.
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