Ahmadinejad: Iran unafraid of UN Security Council

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Jan. 14 – Iran’s hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced on Saturday that the Islamic Republic would never abandon its nuclear efforts even if it meant facing the United Nations Security Council. Iran Focus

Tehran, Iran, Jan. 14 – Iran’s hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced on Saturday that the Islamic Republic would never abandon its nuclear efforts even if it meant facing the United Nations Security Council.

The European Union has announced that it would seek to refer Tehran’s nuclear file to the UN’s top security body because it resumed nuclear research and development at its uranium enrichment facility in Natanz in breach of previous agreements with the EU.

In a press conference in Tehran, Ahmadinejad told reporters that suspension of nuclear research was not part of the agreement it had with the EU and that it was legally allowed to carry out the activity.

Referring to an announcement by EU states that talks with Tehran had reached a dead-end, Ahmadinejad said, “They came and said lets negotiate, and we said fine, lets negotiate. Now they come and say lets not negotiate, so we also say lets not negotiate”.

“What is this that you say? … Do you think that you are fooling a kid?”, the Revolutionary Guards commander-turned President said in an address to EU states.

Ahmadinejad said that the EU had no right to demand Iran be referred to the Security Council. “Don’t do something that you will later regret”, Ahmadinejad said, in threatening language.

He warned that Iran would pursue “paths other than negotiations”, if the West increased the pressure.

Asked whether he would use oil exports as a weapon, the hard-line President said that Tehran had many such options at its disposal and that the West was ten times more dependent on Iran than Iran was on the West.

He added that the world’s superpowers wanted to “control the 21st century”. However, he said that the nations of the world had awakened and would not allow such an outcome.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has called on Iran to suspend work at Natanz as a confidence-building measure, given nearly two decades of deceit by Tehran which had kept its atomic program hidden from the international community.

“The time has come that the West carry out confidence-building measures”, Ahmadinejad said, adding, “The Iranian nation will not accept any threats”.