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.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
Polish presidential candidates offered different visions of Poland and its relations with Ukraine in a televised debate ahead of next week’s run-off, which remains on a knife-edge. During a head-to-head debate lasting two hours, centrist Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s governing pro-European coalition, faced the Eurosceptic historian Karol Nawrocki, backed by the right-wing populist Law and Justice party (PiS). The two candidates, who qualified for the second round after coming in the top two places in the first vote on Sunday last week, clashed over Poland’s relations with Ukraine, EU policy and the track records of their
RSS