|
TEHRAN, Sept. 24 (Xinhuanet) -- Iran said on Saturday
that a resolution adopted by the UN nuclear watchdog accusing Tehran of
violating international nuclear safeguards was unacceptable.
"The resolution is unacceptable and illegal. The Europeans
evenfailed to get a consensus on it," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza
Asefi was quoted as saying by the student news agency ISNA."It is very unusual
for the International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA) to vote on a decision, so the
adoption by vote this time showed that there is no consensus against Iran's
peaceful nuclear program," Asefi added.
The spokesman added that Tehran would provide its
reaction to the resolution after studying it in details.
Asefi's comments came hours after the 35-member IAEA
Board of Governors adopted a draft resolution presented by the European Union on
Iran's nuclear case by a vote of 22 to 1 with 12 abstentions.
The resolution fell short of calling for immediate
referral of Iran's case to the UN Security Council, but accused Iran of
breaching international nuclear safeguards and committing suspicious nuclear
activities which had "given rise to questions that are within the competence of
the Security Council".
Iran's top delegate to the IAEA Javad Vaeidi said in
Viennasoon after the adoption that the failure of the EU's attempt to get a
consensus showed that it was confronted with "the world resistance".
"The United States and Britain also failed to send
Iran nuclear dossier to the UN Security Council, and they will be defeated in
stopping nuclear fuel cycle by Iran," Vaeidi said. Facing opposition from
Russia, China and some Nonaligned Movement countries on the IAEA Board of
Governors, The European Union dropped demand from the previous draft presented
on Tuesday that would force the board to immediately bring Iran before the
Security Council over failure and breach of its obligation to comply with the
nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Though somewhat softened, the revised version of
resolution passed by the board could still escalate crisis over Iran's nuclear
program, for Iran has threatened to restart uraniumen richment and cease to
admit snap inspections of the IAEA in caseof its adoption.
The current crisis was triggered by Tehran's
resumption on Aug.8 of highly sensitive uranium conversion activities after
rejecting an EU proposal to give up its nuclear fuel work inreturn for economic
and technical incentives.
Tehran agreed to suspended all activities related to
uraniumen richment last November as a "temporary and voluntary"
confidence-building measure while talks with the EU trio of Britain, Franceand
Germany lasted.
The EU has been persuading Tehran to abandon its
efforts to build nuclear fuel cycles, including uranium enrichment, a move
Europe believes would provide objective guarantees that Iran'snuclear program
will not be used for military purposes. However, Iran insists that it will never
give up legal rights of the peaceful use of nuclear technology.
The United States accuses Iran of developing nuclear
weapons under the disguise of civilian program, a charge rejected byTehran.
¡¡Enditem | 
Breaking
News 
