Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini gestures  as he speaks at a weekly press briefing in Tehran Sunday, Dec. 24, 2006. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery >>>

 TEHRAN, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- Iran on Sunday threatened to change the level of its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) after the UN Security Council passed a resolution that imposes sanctions on Tehran.

    "It should not be expected that Iran will continue its work with the IAEA at the same level after the issuance of the illegal resolution," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini told his weekly press briefing.

    He did not specify how to change Iran's relationship with the UN nuclear watchdog, only saying that Iran would announce its decisions based on its national interest.

    But the Iranian parliament already began to move in that direction on Sunday by approving the "double urgency" of a bill which urges the government to reconsider its cooperation with the IAEA, according to local Fars News Agency.

    The bill, which has already been passed by the parliament's national security and foreign affairs committee, could possibly lead to a suspension of IAEA inspections of Iran's nuclear sites.  

    Of the 202 members present at the open session of the parliament on Sunday, 184 lawmakers voted for and 12 against the double urgency of the bill. The other six representatives abstained from voting.

    Shortly after the UN Security Council voted unanimously on Saturday to impose sanctions against Iran over its controversial nuclear activities, the Iranian Foreign Ministry lashed out at the resolution as an "illegal measure."

    Iran considers the new UN Security Council resolution as "an illegal measure taken outside the framework of its duty and against the UN Charter," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried on state television.