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Iran FM threatens to quit NPT
(AFP)
Updated: 2006-03-12 16:27
TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran could leave the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if
its nuclear rights are not accounted for, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki
warns.
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| Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, seen here, warns that
Iran could leave the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if its nuclear
rights are not accounted for, as tensions between the Islamic nation and
the United Nations heat up. [AFP] |
"If we reach a point where the existing mechanisms do not provide for the
right of the Iranian people, then the policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran
would be possibly revised and reconsidered," Mottaki told reporters in response
to a question over whether Iran would consider leaving the NPT.
"At the moment we believe that there is a chance for differents sides to
continue the negotiations," he added on the sidelines of an international
conference on energy and security in Asia.
On Wednesday, the International Atomic Energy Agency sent an assessment
report on Iran's program to the Security Council after a failed three-year-old
probe to confirm the true nature of Iran's activities.
The standoff has escalated in recent months, with Tehran insisting it will
not stop the sensitive enrichment activities that the West suspects are cover
for developing an atomic bomb.
On Friday, the five veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council held
another round of private talks on how to respond to Iran's nuclear defiance
ahead of an expected meeting by the full 15-member council next week.
Iran's interior minister also has renewed threats to strike back at political
actions against its nuclear activities.
"If they turn Iran's nuclear case into a political-security issue, we will
definitely use everything (to respond) without ignoring and forgiving a single
thing," Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi was quoted as saying by the official news agency
IRNA.
"If the issue of sanctions is brought up, we will face it with all
possibilities and potentials. The burden of sanctions will be definitely heavier
for the international community than for ours," the interior minister said
without elaborating Saturday.
Tehran says that its nuclear programme is aimed at generating electricity and
that it has the right under the Non-Proliferation Treaty to conduct uranium
enrichment.
The Security Council has the authority to impose punitive measures such as
sanctions, a measure Iran says it does not fear.
In mid-February, the head of the elite Revolutionary Guards warned that Iran
was ready to counter any US aggression with offensive action.
"We have worked on all defensive and offensive scenarios for any possible
attacks," Revolutionary Guards chief General Yahya Rahim Safavi told state
television.
Iran's Assembly of Experts, an 86-member council of top clerics, also issued
a statement earlier this month warning the country's opponents of a "heavy
price" if tensions escalate further. And the head of Iran's delegation to the
IAEA, Javad Vaidi, has threatened the United States with "harm and pain.
Washington's European allies have stressed that military action against Iran
is not an option.
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