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Iran warns UN watchdog over Security Council referral

Posted on: Thursday, 29 September 2005, 14:27 CDT

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran reiterated on Thursday that it would start uranium enrichment and stop allowing U.N. snap inspections of its atomic facilities if its nuclear program is reported to the U.N. Security Council in November.

Gholamreza Aghazadeh, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, said there was no legal basis for reporting Iran to the U.N. Security Council.

The 35-nation governing board of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), meets in November to discuss Iran and the EU and the United States want it to report Tehran to the Security Council.

"We will immediately lift the suspension of uranium enrichment and will halt implementation of the Additional Protocol," Aghazadeh said.

The Additional Protocol to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) allows short-notice checks of atomic facilities by U.N. weapons inspectors.

Iran broke U.N. seals at a uranium conversion plant at Isfahan last month, but it has so far refrained from resuming work at its Natanz uranium enrichment facility. Work had been suspended under a November deal with the EU.

"If they refer our case to the Council, we will immediately resume activities in the Natanz facility," Aghazadeh said.

Tehran says its nuclear program is purely for generating electricity, but the United States and the European Union suspect Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons.

Aghazadeh said Iran was closely watching the outcome of the next IAEA meeting. "The November meeting is a very crucial one. It is a turning point."

The IAEA on Saturday passed a resolution censuring Iran's nuclear program and paving the way for it to be referred to the Security Council, which has the power to impose sanctions.

Source: REUTERS

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