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Iran May Leave NPT If Referred to Security Council - MP

Posted on: Wednesday, 21 September 2005, 12:00 CDT

Text of report by Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) website

Tehran, 21 September: A member of the Majlis presidium has said that in the event of the referral of Iran's nuclear dossier to the UN Security Council and the adoption of a harsh decision on the Islamic republic, leaving the NPT will be one of Iran's options.

Talking to the parliamentary correspondent of ISNA and stressing that Iran has abided by the NPT and even went beyond the rules governing the IAEA, Hoseyn Nejabat said: All Iran's actions were in compliance with and based on the parameters of the NPT and therefore from a legal point of view, Iran was not concerned about its actions.

Saying that if the IAEA fails to support Iran's case and our affiliation to the NPT proves harmful to the country, he stressed that under such circumstances leaving the NPT will be put on the Majlis agenda and will be discussed as one of the options open to Iran.

Talking about the voluntary suspension of the enrichment programme in Iran, Nejabat said: Regrettably, the decision for the voluntary suspension of the nuclear programme was taken without any consultation with the sixth Majlis. The legal procedure for taking such a decision was not followed and it was wrong. Now that we are at this juncture, the legal procedure should be followed if we are to leave the NPT and the Additional Protocol. This will mean non- abidance by the NPT followed by resumption of work at the Esfahan and Natanz sites to complete the nuclear fuel cycle. So if we do not get any support [from the IAEA], this question will be raised in the public mind: what is the benefit of being affiliated to international organizations?

Stating that the decision on Iran's nuclear issue is not limited to the Majlis or the government, the Majlis deputy for Tehran pointed out: The Supreme National Security Council [SNSC] deals with the nuclear issue and the eminent leader [Khamene'i] expresses his views as well. Moreover, the Majlis takes part in the decision making along with the heads of the three branches of power and the SNSC so that the foreign policy apparatus can take a decision simultaneously [as published].

Saying that it is a priority for the Majlis to determine whether any benefit can be derived from being affiliated to international organizations, the deputy said: We must find out why an organization, of which we are a member, does not defend our rights and puts us in a situation in which we have to struggle in order to maintain them.

Finally, the deputy referred to the president's proposal for the participation of other countries in Iran's nuclear fuel cycle and said: The proposal was a dynamic one which meant that Iran did not sit and wait for others to decide about us. The proposal showed that Iran is active.

Source: BBC Monitoring Middle East

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