February 11, 2009 5:34 PM
- Text
Iran Vows To Defy U.N. Sanctions
(CBS/AP)
Iran vowed Sunday to push forward efforts to enrich uranium and to change its relations with the international nuclear watchdog after the U.N. Security Council imposed sanctions designed to stop the country's disputed nuclear program.
Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the Security Council would regret voting in favor of the sanctions, saying he was sorry the West lost its chance to make amends with Iran.
"I am sorry for you who lost the opportunity for friendship with the nation of Iran. You yourself know that you cannot damage the nation of Iran an iota," the state-run news agency, IRNA, quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.
Ahmadinejad also said the United Nations must accept Iran's nuclear program and warned that sanctions would not harm his country.
"You have to accept that Iran has the technology of producing nuclear fuel. And it will celebrate it in coming anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution in February," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said Iran pledged to change its relationship with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Association.
"We are not obliged and it is not expected that cooperation with the IAEA continues at the same former level," Hosseini told reporters. He did not provide details about what would change.
Iran's parliament on Sunday voted to urge the country's administration to revise its cooperation with the IAEA but did not set a timeline or provide further details. Many legislators chanted "Death to America" after the vote.
"The government should seriously and strongly continue the important issue of peaceful nuclear technology with prudence and foresight. It should never accept such illogical pressures," more than 200 legislators said in a statement read on state-run radio.
The U.N. Security Council resolution — the result of two months of tough negotiation — orders all countries to stop supplying Iran with materials and technology that could contribute to its nuclear and missile programs. It also freezes the Iranian assets of 10 key companies and 12 individuals related to those programs.
"The Security Council resolution passed Saturday, which orders all countries to ban the supply of weapons technology and imposes a limited assets freeze, was a watered down but unanimous message to Iran that it cannot pursue its nuclear program without safeguards," said CBS News Foreign Affairs Analyst Pamela Falk from the U.N.
If Iran refuses to comply, the council warned it would adopt further nonmilitary sanctions, but the resolution emphasized the importance of diplomacy in seeking guarantees "that Iran's nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes."
Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the Security Council would regret voting in favor of the sanctions, saying he was sorry the West lost its chance to make amends with Iran.
"I am sorry for you who lost the opportunity for friendship with the nation of Iran. You yourself know that you cannot damage the nation of Iran an iota," the state-run news agency, IRNA, quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.
Ahmadinejad also said the United Nations must accept Iran's nuclear program and warned that sanctions would not harm his country.
"You have to accept that Iran has the technology of producing nuclear fuel. And it will celebrate it in coming anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution in February," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said Iran pledged to change its relationship with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Association.
"We are not obliged and it is not expected that cooperation with the IAEA continues at the same former level," Hosseini told reporters. He did not provide details about what would change.
Iran's parliament on Sunday voted to urge the country's administration to revise its cooperation with the IAEA but did not set a timeline or provide further details. Many legislators chanted "Death to America" after the vote.
"The government should seriously and strongly continue the important issue of peaceful nuclear technology with prudence and foresight. It should never accept such illogical pressures," more than 200 legislators said in a statement read on state-run radio.
The U.N. Security Council resolution — the result of two months of tough negotiation — orders all countries to stop supplying Iran with materials and technology that could contribute to its nuclear and missile programs. It also freezes the Iranian assets of 10 key companies and 12 individuals related to those programs.
"The Security Council resolution passed Saturday, which orders all countries to ban the supply of weapons technology and imposes a limited assets freeze, was a watered down but unanimous message to Iran that it cannot pursue its nuclear program without safeguards," said CBS News Foreign Affairs Analyst Pamela Falk from the U.N.
If Iran refuses to comply, the council warned it would adopt further nonmilitary sanctions, but the resolution emphasized the importance of diplomacy in seeking guarantees "that Iran's nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes."
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