Iran yesterday warned it would hit back with an appropriate response to new UN Security Council sanctions over its contested nuclear program, as Western powers stepped up efforts to punish Tehran.
Britain, France and the US are pushing for a new sanctions resolution this week after the UN atomic watchdog said it could still not confirm if the Iranian atomic drive was peaceful.
"In the case of the adoption of the resolution, we will make a deserving action. We will announce our decision at the right time based on the content of the resolution," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned on Saturday of "firm reprisals" against any country leading the way to impose new sanctions, adding that Iran was "not joking."
"They could spend 100 years passing resolutions but it will not change anything," he said in an interview with state television.
Neither Hosseini or Ahmadinejad gave any details over exactly what Iran's response could involve.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Friday in its latest report that it had made "quite good progress" in its four year-probe into the Iranian nuclear drive.
But crucially for future sanctions, the report said it was still not in a position to determine the "full nature of Iran's nuclear program" and confirmed Tehran was continuing to defy UN demands by enriching uranium.
The report met with starkly different responses from Western capitals and Tehran.
Iranian officials said the report proved that the nuclear case was now closed, with Ahmadinejad hailing the "historic victory of Iran in its greatest confrontation with the oppressive powers since the Islamic revolution."
But US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the report provided "a very strong case" for moving forward with a third UN Security Council sanctions resolution to punish Tehran's failure to suspend enrichment.
"It is our firm belief that there is all the more reason now for the Security Council to pass a third sanctions resolution," US Assistant Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns said.
Iran has defied calls in previous resolutions for it to freeze uranium enrichment operations, a sensitive process world powers fear could be used to make nuclear weapons.
Tehran insists its nuclear program is peaceful and only aimed at generating atomic energy for a growing population whose immense oil and gas reserves will run out in decades.
Meanwhile, top Iranian cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani accused the US of` unbalancing IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei's "mental state" by submitting secret documents just days before the report.
"The US has submitted a stack of documents to disrupt ElBaradei's mental state and has been successful to some extent," said the head of the elite clerical body the Assembly of Experts, the state IRNA agency said.
Washington was to host a new round of talks between world powers today ahead of a council meeting on Wednesday and a vote on the resolution text on Friday, US officials said.
The draft text has been brought forward by Britain and France and it remains to be seen how veto-wielding members China and Russia will respond. Four non-permanent members are also said to harbor reservations.
The draft would impose a travel ban on officials involved in Tehran's nuclear and missile programs and inspections of shipments to and from Iran if there are suspicions they may contain prohibited goods.
But Hosseini brushed off the prospect of further sanctions, saying that they could only cause "slight problems" for the Islamic republic.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number