Defiant Iran rejects new UN sanctions

I / Tehran June 10, 2010, 15:55 IST

A defiant Iran rejected new UN sanctions imposed over its controversial uranium enrichment programme, saying it will press on with the sensitive atomic work, even as world powers stressed today the door remains open for dialogue.

A US-drafted sanctions resolution was adopted by 12 votes to two in the UN Security Council on Wednesday, with Lebanon abstaining and Brazil and Turkey voting against.

Although swiftly hailed by the United States, Britain and France who co-sponsored the resolution, the sanctions drew an immediate, scornful reaction from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

"These resolutions are not worth a dime for the Iranian nation," said Ahmadinejad, who had earlier threatened to suspend negotiations with six major powers if the sanctions were imposed.

Speaking in the Tajik capital Dushanbe minutes after the UN vote, he said he had told world powers "that the resolutions you issue are like a used hanky which should be thrown in the dust bin".

Iran's envoy to UN atomic watchdog, Ali Asghar Soltanieh insisted that Tehran would "not halt its uranium enrichment programme," the most contentious part of its nuclear policy.

Iranian newspapers, both hardline and reformist, unanimously denounced the sanctions.

The hardline Kayhan daily ran a front-page lead headline: "Wait for Iran's decisive response to illegal sanctions."

The reformist daily Aftab e-Yazd said: "Now that the West, along with Russia and China, has adopted the path of confrontation, Iran's response will be strong."

US President Barack Obama said the "toughest-ever" sanctions "sent an unmistakable message about the international community's commitment to stopping the spread of nuclear weapons."

But he stressed: "These sanctions do not close the door on diplomacy. Iran continues to have the opportunity to take a different and better path."

Obama's views were echoed by EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton who offered to meet Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili "at the earliest opportunity."

The foreign ministers of Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States meanwhile stressed that their dual-track approach -- pressure through sanctions alongside negotiations -- remained in effect.

"The aim of our efforts is to achieve a comprehensive and long-term settlement which would restore international confidence in the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear programme, while respecting Iran's legitimate rights to the peaceful use of atomic energy," they said in a statement.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said such a dual-track approach was "wrong."

"In order to preserve the rights of nations, it is better to refrain from such discriminatory actions," he told the state IRNA news agency.