By Ali Akbar Dareini
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran's top leader warned Wednesday his country will pursue "illegal actions" if the UN Security Council insists it halt uranium enrichment, an apparent reference to nuclear activities outside international regulations.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also warned the United States that Iran would fight back with "all its capacities" if attacked.
"Until today, what we have done has been in accordance with international regulations," Khamenei said. "But if they take illegal actions, we too can take illegal actions and will do so."
He did not elaborate on what the "illegal actions" could be, but Iran is a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, the agreement under which the UN inspections are held.
Iran says it will never give up its right under the treaty to enrich uranium and produce nuclear fuel. But it has offered to provide guarantees that its nuclear program won't be diverted toward weapons, as the United States and some of its allies fear.
The five permanent members of the Security Council - the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France - and Germany have drawn up new sanctions to punish Iran for rejecting UN demands to halt enrichment, a process that can produce fuel for a reactor or fissile material for a nuclear warhead.
"If they want to treat us with threats and enforcement of coercion and violence, undoubtedly they must know that the Iranian nation and authorities will use all their capacities to strike enemies that attack," Khamenei told the country in an address marking the first day of Nowruz, or the Persian New Year.
Ambassadors from the 15 Security Council countries held their first negotiations late Wednesday in New York City on a draft resolution imposing the new sanctions against Iran.
The new sanctions would ban Iranian arms exports and freeze the assets of 28 additional individuals and organizations involved in the country's nuclear and missile programs - about one-third linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard, an elite military corps.
The package also calls for voluntary restrictions on travel by the individuals subject to sanctions, on arms sales to Iran and on new financial assistance or loans to the Iranian government.
The United States, Britain and France are hoping the new sanctions will be adopted by the end of the week but that goal seemed complicated. South Africa, which holds the rotating Security Council presidency, has proposed extensive changes to the resolution - including eliminating the arms embargo - and a 90-day "time out" on all sanctions.
The United States and its allies made clear Wednesday they would not agree to South Africa's proposed "time out," a suggestion Britain's UN Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry called "totally perverse."
"In order to have Iran responding," said France's UN Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere, "you have to increase pressure."
"Decreasing pressure won't do the job. We think that increasing the pressure is the right thing to do."
Acting U.S. ambassador Alejandro Wolff indicated Washington would also reject amendments by Indonesia and Qatar for the Middle East to be free of weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them - because of the implications for Israel. It is widely believed to have developed nuclear weapons though the Israeli government has never officially acknowledged them.
The full council is scheduled to meet again late today to discuss the proposed changes.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said his country "will not support excessive sanctions against Iran," and added that the draft resolution has been softened at Moscow's behest, including narrower restrictions on officials' travel.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said he will travel to the United Nations if the Security Council decides to vote on sanctions. In his own New Year's address, he accused world's powers of waging "psychological warfare ... to block our nation's progress."
Khamenei said sanctions would backfire and only further motivate Iran to develop nuclear power without outside assistance.
"Sanctions may even, under circumstances, come to our benefit since they create more motivation for us," he said. "Western governments don't agree with Iran possessing nuclear power. Let them. Did we ask anybody permission to achieve nuclear power?"
Iran says it needs alternative energy sources for when its oil reserves run out.
"Nuclear energy is a must, a necessity in the long term," Khamenei said. "One day oil will dry up. ... The Iranian nation needs nuclear energy for life, not weapons."
Copyright © 2007 Canadian Press
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran's top leader warned Wednesday his country will pursue "illegal actions" if the UN Security Council insists it halt uranium enrichment, an apparent reference to nuclear activities outside international regulations.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also warned the United States that Iran would fight back with "all its capacities" if attacked.
"Until today, what we have done has been in accordance with international regulations," Khamenei said. "But if they take illegal actions, we too can take illegal actions and will do so."
He did not elaborate on what the "illegal actions" could be, but Iran is a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, the agreement under which the UN inspections are held.
Iran says it will never give up its right under the treaty to enrich uranium and produce nuclear fuel. But it has offered to provide guarantees that its nuclear program won't be diverted toward weapons, as the United States and some of its allies fear.
The five permanent members of the Security Council - the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France - and Germany have drawn up new sanctions to punish Iran for rejecting UN demands to halt enrichment, a process that can produce fuel for a reactor or fissile material for a nuclear warhead.
"If they want to treat us with threats and enforcement of coercion and violence, undoubtedly they must know that the Iranian nation and authorities will use all their capacities to strike enemies that attack," Khamenei told the country in an address marking the first day of Nowruz, or the Persian New Year.
Ambassadors from the 15 Security Council countries held their first negotiations late Wednesday in New York City on a draft resolution imposing the new sanctions against Iran.
The new sanctions would ban Iranian arms exports and freeze the assets of 28 additional individuals and organizations involved in the country's nuclear and missile programs - about one-third linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard, an elite military corps.
The package also calls for voluntary restrictions on travel by the individuals subject to sanctions, on arms sales to Iran and on new financial assistance or loans to the Iranian government.
The United States, Britain and France are hoping the new sanctions will be adopted by the end of the week but that goal seemed complicated. South Africa, which holds the rotating Security Council presidency, has proposed extensive changes to the resolution - including eliminating the arms embargo - and a 90-day "time out" on all sanctions.
The United States and its allies made clear Wednesday they would not agree to South Africa's proposed "time out," a suggestion Britain's UN Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry called "totally perverse."
"In order to have Iran responding," said France's UN Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere, "you have to increase pressure."
"Decreasing pressure won't do the job. We think that increasing the pressure is the right thing to do."
Acting U.S. ambassador Alejandro Wolff indicated Washington would also reject amendments by Indonesia and Qatar for the Middle East to be free of weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them - because of the implications for Israel. It is widely believed to have developed nuclear weapons though the Israeli government has never officially acknowledged them.
The full council is scheduled to meet again late today to discuss the proposed changes.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said his country "will not support excessive sanctions against Iran," and added that the draft resolution has been softened at Moscow's behest, including narrower restrictions on officials' travel.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said he will travel to the United Nations if the Security Council decides to vote on sanctions. In his own New Year's address, he accused world's powers of waging "psychological warfare ... to block our nation's progress."
Khamenei said sanctions would backfire and only further motivate Iran to develop nuclear power without outside assistance.
"Sanctions may even, under circumstances, come to our benefit since they create more motivation for us," he said. "Western governments don't agree with Iran possessing nuclear power. Let them. Did we ask anybody permission to achieve nuclear power?"
Iran says it needs alternative energy sources for when its oil reserves run out.
"Nuclear energy is a must, a necessity in the long term," Khamenei said. "One day oil will dry up. ... The Iranian nation needs nuclear energy for life, not weapons."
Copyright © 2007 Canadian Press
