 The secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), Hassan Rowhani, warned the United States that it tried to derail nuclear talks between Iran and the European Union, and refers Iran's nuclear dossier to the United Nations Security Council, Iran would cease all voluntary and confidence-building measures it has implemented. "In such a case, the Majlis [Parliament] deputies may make another decision," Rowhani told participants at the International Conference on Nuclear Technology and Sustainable Development in Tehran. Rowhani said that any referral of Iran's nuclear dossier to the U.N. would be an illegal and illogical political decision that would actually undermine the International Atomic Energy Agency.
| I'm not at all sure what the logic behind that statement is. Perhaps I'm dense. Perhaps it intrinsically makes no sense... |
If Iran were referred to the U.N., the Islamic Republic would stop implementing the additional protocol to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and would resume uranium enrichment, he added. Rowhani asked, "Is confidence-building better with the protocol or without the protocol?"
| I'd have to check with somebody who actually speaks the language, but I suspect the original Persian version of that statement was something along the lines of "My way or the highway." |
Rowhani said that if Europe referred Iran to the U.N. it would be committing political suicide and would lose its international standing, that Europeans and others realize that the region is volatile, and understand that they have no right to create crises in violation of international law. Creating crises in the region is like playing with fire, Rowhani observed. "It is impossible to deprive the Iranian nation of nuclear energy," he said.
| Lemme get this straight: Iran — a decayed cultural backwater ruled by theocrats — threatens Europe with a loss of international standing for "violating international law" by referring Iran's pecadilloes to the UN Security Council. Is that what I just read? |
If Europe really seeks a permanent freeze on Iran's nuclear fuel cycle, the negotiations with Europe will cease at that moment, he stated. "We announced clearly in Paris that if you want a halt, we can have no dialogue with you."
| That probably means we have nothing to talk about, doesn't it? |
Rowhani also warned of the danger of an oil crisis if Tehran were referred to the U.N. "The first to suffer would be Europe and the United States themselves. This would cause problems for the regional energy market, for the European economy, and even more so for the United States," Rowhani said.
| Though ultimately for Iran. Perhaps because of some defect in the national reasoning mechanisms, they haven't thought that idea through to a logical conclusion. This isn't 1973. |
If Iran is referred to the U.N., the security situation in the region will deteriorate, and the U.S. would be the first to suffer, he noted. In a veiled warning to Washington to avoid getting ideas about more adventurism in the region, Rowhani said, "The United States has spread its forces and equipment all around us and become our unwanted neighbor."
| We can get much closer. Like down the block. |
Rowhani also said, "We believe we will reach an agreement with Europe if the United States ceases pressure, because Europe doesn't want to deprive the Iranian nation (of nuclear energy)." Europe knows that it will lose its international standing if it tries to deprive the Iranian nation of its rights, the SNSC secretary added. |