Iran struck back yesterday at the Big Five powers' decision to refer Iran's nuclear file to the Security Council, saying such referral has no legal justification and would be the end of diplomacy.
"Reporting Iran's dossier to the UN Security Council will be unconstructive and the end of diplomacy," said top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani, according to state television.
At a London meeting that lasted into the early hours yesterday, envoys of Britain, China, France, Russia and the US decided they would recommend that the International Atomic Energy Agency, when it meets tomorrow, should report Iran to the UN Security Council. They also decided the Security Council should wait until next month to take up Iran's nuclear file after a formal report on Tehran's activities from the atomic agency.
PHOTO: AP
Vice President Gholamreza Aghazadeh, who also runs Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, said it was difficult to predict how the IAEA meeting tomorrow would develop, the semi-official Iranian Students News Agency reported.
"The biggest problem for the West is that they can't find any [legal] justification to refer Iran to the UN Security Council," ISNA quoted him as saying.
Iranian Foreign Ministry officials could not be reached for comment yesterday, but the government is expected to be extremely displeased by the decision.
Larijani hinted at such when television quoted him as saying: "The Islamic Republic of Iran doesn't welcome this. We still think that this issue can be resolved peacefully. We recommend them not to do it."
He also reproached Europe for the London decision, which was taken at the home of British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and attended by the foreign minister of Germany and the foreign policy supremo of the EU.
"Europeans should pay more attention. Iran has called for dialogue and is moving in the direction of reaching an agreement through peaceful means," Larijani said.
But hours earlier, British, French and German representatives had met Larijani's deputy, Javad Vaedi, in Brussels for last-ditch talks on the dispute, but failed to make any progress.
Last week, Larijani flew to Moscow and Beijing to seek Russian and Chinese support against the Western drive to refer Iran to the Security Council.
The decision by Russia and China to vote for referral surprised observers as they have consistently counseled caution on Iran's nuclear file. Both have major economic ties with Iran.
A French government official, speaking on the customary condition of anonymity, said the Russian and Chinese ministers had been persuaded of the need to show a united front.
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