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Ahmadinejad rejects new EU nuclear talks

"From Iran's point of view the recent Security Council resolution is utterly invalid and not important, since its decisions are not legal."

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iranian president

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said yesterday that Iran would hold no talks outside the UN atomic watchdog over its nuclear program, after the US Security Council urged Tehran to resume talks with the EU, the official IRNA news agency said.

Ahmadinejad blasted the council's latest sanction resolution over its contested nuclear drive as "invalid," the Fars news agency said.

"From Iran's point of view the recent Security Council resolution is utterly invalid and not important, since its decisions are not legal," Ahmadinejad told reporters after Cabinet meeting.

On Monday the council imposed its third set of sanctions against Iran in the space of 15 months to punish Tehran for its repeated refusal to suspend the process of uranium enrichment.

Fourteen of the council's 15 members voted in favor of Resolution 1803 put forward by Britain and France. The resolution gives Iran three months to comply with UN and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) demands to suspend uranium enrichment.

Tehran insists its nuclear program is solely aimed at generating energy and it has every right to the nuclear fuel cycle, including uranium enrichment.

Iran had been hoping that its ongoing cooperation with the IAEA to answer questions about past areas of ambiguity in its atomic program would mean the nuclear case would be taken away from the council.

The White House on Tuesday urged the international community to implement the sanctions. But in a sign of division, the IAEA decided on Tuesday that no additional action was needed, with a push by Western nations for a resolution dropped amid objections from Russia, China and developing countries.

Meanwhile, Russia had some advice for Iran: Study the incentives the world powers are offering -- including improved relations with the US -- and suspend uranium enrichment as the council is demanding.

Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said there is a broader consensus among the world's powers on how to deal with Iran and a new reality on the ground that will hopefully create the right conditions for Tehran to halt enrichment and start negotiations.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday at UN headquarters, Churkin highlighted the unity of the six countries that have been in the forefront of efforts to ensure Iran's nuclear intentions are peaceful. He said the entire 15-member Security Council had "rallied"around the statement.

Churkin said the ministers had spoken "approvingly of the cooperation which Iran has had lately" with the IAEA. He also expressed hope that the ministers' statement would provide "an incentive to give a more positive response to the requirements of the international community."
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