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Iran vows to end IAEA cooperation if referred to security council
Iran threatened on Friday to end all nuclear cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nationsâ nuclear watchdog, if its nuclear file was sent to the UN Security Council, as is looking more likely than ever.The European Union three â Britain, France, and Germany â said on Thursday that they were seeking an emergency session of the IAEA board of governors to refer Tehran to the Security Council for resuming previously-suspended nuclear enrichment-related activities at its uranium enrichment facility in Natanz. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Friday that if Iranâs file did appear before the UN for possible sanctions then the Islamic Republic would end nuclear cooperation with the IAEA, which includes allowing spot inspections of suspect nuclear weapons sites, the state-run ISNA news agency reported. Speaking in the southern port city of Bandar Abbass, Mottaki said, âThe EU must take note that any attempts to refer and report Iranâs file to the Security Council will oblige the government of Iran to end all voluntary cooperation with the IAEA, in accordance with the law passed in the Majlis (Parliament)â. The Foreign Minister said that he wished the EU states did not put Iran in a position where it would no longer be able to cooperate with them. âWe had said right from the start that threats such as referral of Iranâs file to the Security Council would not be usefulâ, he said. Posted by: Dan Darling 2006-01-13 |
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