A senior Iranian official said on Tuesday that Iran had no
intention to retreat from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
(NPT) after the UN Security Council resolution that imposes
sanctions on Tehran, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Mehdi Mostafavi said the Islamic
Republic had no intention to pull out of the NPT, but "will not
remain indifferent towards the UN Security Council's illegal and
unfair measure (resolution 1737)," according to IRNA.
"We will adopt necessary measure based on our national will, and
the first step towards producing nuclear fuel on industrial scale
will start during the 'Ten-Day Dawn' celebrations," said
Mostafavi.
Iran holds the "Ten-Day Dawn" celebrations every year on
February 1 to 10 to mark the victory of the 1979 Islamic
Revolution.
Meanwhile, Mostafavi criticized the main point of the resolution
as demand out of the NPT regulations.
"It (the resolution) also had a dual attitude towards
signatories to the NPT, the Iranian government and people will not
accept the demands which the six nations and the Security Council
intend to impose on the country beyond regulations of the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the NPT," he
stressed.
The UN Security Council Resolution 1737, adopted unanimously on
Saturday, demanded that Iran "suspend all enrichment-related and
reprocessing activities, including research and developments on all
heavy water-related projects."
The resolution also called on all states to impose a ban on
trade with Iran in goods related to its nuclear programs and
ballistic missile delivery systems.
It demanded that "all states shall freeze the funds, other
financial assets and economic resources" owned or controlled by
officials and companies in the country's nuclear and missile
programs.
Shortly after the UN Security Council's unanimous vote, the
Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a statement lashing out at the
resolution as an "illegal measure."
On Sunday, Iran had also threatened to change the level of its
cooperation with the IAEA.
(Xinhua News Agency December 27, 2006)
