Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Warns West Over UN Nuclear Referral
Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani speaks to reporters after meeting with Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in Tehran. Iran said it will carry through its threat to end tough UN nuclear inspections and resume ultra-sensitive uranium enrichment on an industrial scale if hauled before the UN Security Council.
Financial Times: Iran warns against UN referral
Iran’s top nuclear official on Sunday warned Tehran would resume efforts to enrich uranium on an industrial scale if its case was reported to the UN Security Council, further raising the stakes in the crisis over its nuclear programme.
Tehran earlier this month moved to resume nuclear research, including some small-scale enrichment. But Ali Larijani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, which handles the nuclear issue, said in an interview with the Financial Times that a referral to the United Nations
would force Tehran to broaden significantly the scale of such work.“If the case goes to the Security Council, we’re obliged . . . to lift all voluntary measures,†he said, specifying that this included industrial-scale uranium enrichment.
The European Union and US have been pushing to get Iran’s case reported to the UN Security Council since Tehran announced it would restart its nuclear research two weeks ago. The US and European governments consider the move a breach of a 2004 agreement with Iran.
The transcript of the Ali Larijani interview is here.
Iran is looking for an excuse and cover for full-scale enrichment of uranium. It has been reported that they have acquired additional centrifuges.
In the meantine, the Russia negotiations continue along with EU lobbying of IAEA member nations before the IAEA meeting next week.
Stay tuned…..
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The Natanz uranium enrichment complex in Natanz is pictured in this January 2, 2006 satellite image
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