TEHRAN, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday that UN Security Council resolutions could not stop his country from developing nuclear program, the official IRNA news agency reported.
"Enemies of the Iranian nation are now seeking to use the UN Security Council to prevent Iran's progress," Ahmadinejad said in a speech at a rally in the central Yazd province.
Ahmadinejad's remarks came as Britain, France and Germany were prepared to circulate a long-expected draft resolution imposing sanctions against Iran on Thursday morning.
Referring to possible further UN sanctions on Iran, Ahmadinejad said that sanctions have long been imposed on the country but still it had managed to achieve success in the nuclear field.
"What is the point of issuing such resolutions? The Iranian people have mastered the nuclear fuel cycle," the Iranian president said.
"Orders and decisions of the kind would have no importance to the Iranian nation," Ahmadinejad said, adding "You can again impose sanctions on us and see for yourselves what effect they will have."
Meanwhile, he reiterated the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear activities, saying they were "completely legal and monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)."
British Ambassador to the United Nations Emyr Jones Parry told reporters Wednesday in New York after a closed consultation with his counterparts of five other major nations, the United States,Russia, China, France and Germany, that "we expect tomorrow to be in a position to introduce a text into the council."
"Our hope is that at stage we can put forward a text, that text will enjoy the support of those who have been working on it and then it will be for the council to decide how it wishes to deal with it," Parry said.
The UN Security Council passed a resolution on Dec. 23, 2006,asking Iran to suspend uranium enrichment in 60 days. However,Iran has failed to do so and claimed its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only.
Washington has accused Tehran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian program, a charge that Iran denies.
UNITED NATIONS, March 14 (Xinhua) -- Britain, France and Germany are prepared to circulate the long-expected draft resolution imposing sanctions against Iran on Thursday morning, UN diplomats said Wednesday.
ELGRADE, March 14 (Xinhua) -- Iran still hoped a diplomatic solution to its nuclear program issue could be achieved in spite of efforts by the West to pass a new UN Security Council resolution stepping up sanctions, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said in the Slovenian capital Ljubljana on Wednesday.
TEHRAN, March 14 (Xinhua) -- Iran's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday stayed defiant on the country's nuclear program, warning that the Western countries can not isolate the Iranian people through more sanctions.
UNITED NATIONS, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The 15-member UN Security Council will have consultations on Wednesday afternoon to discuss possible sanctions against Iran as key council members came closer on Tuesday to agree on major points of a draft resolution.
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