Iran has ended all voluntary cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said yesterday.
The president had ordered the move a day before in response to the IAEA referring Iran to the UN Security Council over its nuclear program. The action was required under a law passed last year.
"We have ended all the voluntary cooperation we have been extending to the IAEA in the past two-and-a-half to three years, on the basis of the president's order," Mottaki said. "We do not have any obligation toward the additional protocol [anymore]."
The announcement means Iran has resumed uranium enrichment and will no longer allow snap IAEA inspections of its nuclear facilities, both voluntary measures it had allowed in recent years in a goodwill gesture to build trust under a protocol to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
Iran has repeatedly stressed that it would continue to honor its commitments under the treaty, but that it has the right to pursue a peaceful nuclear program.
"Adoption of the policy of resistance doesn't mean we are on non-speaking terms or noncooperative," Mottaki said. "Yesterday we had two options. One was the option of resistance and the other was surrender. We chose resistance."
While Iran was dismissive of the IAEA action, it also indicated it was open to negotiations and reversed its earlier rejection of a Moscow proposal that Iran shift its plan for large-scale enrichment of uranium to Russian territory. The plan is intended to allay world suspicions that Iran might use the process to develop a nuclear bomb.
Uranium enriched to a low degree is used as fuel for nuclear reactors. But highly enriched uranium is suitable for making atomic bombs.
"The situation has changed. Still, we will attend talks with Russia on Feb. 16," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said.
His comments came a day after Javad Vaeidi, deputy head of Iran's powerful National Security Council, said there was "no adequate reason to pursue the Russian plan."
It was not clear if the change of course represented a major shift in Iran's strategy in the crisis over its nuclear activities. Asefi said "the door for negotiations is still open" over Iran's nuclear program.
"We don't fear the Security Council. It's not the end of the world," he added.
Mottaki said Iran's cooperation was now limited only to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and not beyond that.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also continued his defiance against the move by the IAEA for its decision to report Iran to the Security Council.
"You [the West] can't do a thing. The era of coercion and domination has ended," Ahmadinejad was quoted by the official Islamic Republic News Agency as saying.
"Issue as many resolutions like this as you want and make yourself happy. You can't prevent the progress of the Iranian nation," he said.
Iranian lawmakers yesterday also agreed to urgently debate a bill that would put restrictions on the sale of unnecessary US goods sold in the country, a response to US pressure over the matter.
also see story:
Crisis threatens Iran's economy
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
RSS