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Iran says it will fight sanctions in court

Iran plans to take legal action and seek compensation for what it says are unlawful UN resolutions imposing sanctions on Tehran for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment, the foreign minister said in a letter obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday.

In the letter, Manouchehr Mottaki said Iran would not implement the sanctions resolutions because the UN Security Council went beyond its powers and its actions were inconsistent with the UN Charter.

The US, the EU, Israel and others suspect Iran's goal is to produce nuclear weapons. But Iran insists its program is aimed solely at producing nuclear energy and has defied the council by stepping up its enrichment activities.

In the letter, Mottaki said repeatedly that Tehran has answered all outstanding questions from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which "has repeatedly stated that there is no evidence to prove any diversion of the Iranian nuclear program towards military purposes."

IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei said in a Feb. 22 report that his team made good progress in clarifying Iran's past nuclear activities, but Tehran had not responded properly to intelligence forwarded by the US and its allies purportedly showing nuclear weapons technology.

Foreign ministers of the six countries that have been in the forefront of efforts to ensure that Iran's nuclear intentions are peaceful -- the US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany -- issued a joint statement to coincide with the council's adoption of a third sanctions resolution on March 3 reaffirming their dual-track approach.

They offered to improve a package of political, security and economic incentives they put on the table in June 2006 if Iran suspends enrichment -- but said continued defiance would lead to further measures.

Mottaki said in response that "the basic question to ponder is, if the council really believes in negotiation, then, why [is it that] it raises preconditions for such a negotiation?"

He singled out the US, Britain, France and Germany for pushing new sanctions for political motives and accused them of "providing false and erroneous information" to the IAEA concerning Iran's nuclear activities.

"These countries should, as a minimum step, admit their mistakes, apologize to the great nation of Iran, correct their behavior and, above all, compensate all the damages they have inflicted on the Islamic Republic of Iran," Mottaki said.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran and its citizens have the right to resort to legal actions to seek redress against the sponsors of these unlawful actions. These countries should accept the responsibility for their actions and must be held accountable," he said.

UN Associate Spokesman Farhan Haq said Iranian Ambassador to the UN Mohammad Khazee delivered Mottaki's letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon late on Tuesday and "also assured the secretary-general that Iran will cooperate with the IAEA."

Copies of the letter were also sent to the presidents of the Security Council and the General Assembly.

Richard Grenell, spokesman for the US Mission to the UN, was dismissive of Mottaki's letter, saying: "The UN Charter is perfectly clear on these issues."

Mottaki's letter offered a rebuttal to every paragraph of the latest sanctions resolution -- saying it was illegal to freeze assets and ban travel of Iranians involved in the country's nuclear program, prevent equipment with both civilian and military uses from entering the country, monitor banks and search suspected cargo.

Mottaki criticized the "irrational opposition" of the US and the three EU countries -- pointedly leaving out Russia and China who voted for the sanctions resolutions but have close ties to Tehran.
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