Tehran, Iran – Iran said Sunday it would not stop uranium conversion and warned of consequences if it was referred to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions over its nuclear program.
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Iran wants to continue dialogue with Europe without preconditions and rejected a U.S.-European threat that Teh ran has about a week to freeze uranium-processing activities or face referral to the Security Council.
“There is no legal or legitimate reason, given Iran’s transparent activities and its open cooperation with the IAEA … that Iran be referred to the U.N. Security Council,” Mottaki said at a news conference.
“If a political decision is made to refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council, it will be entering a lose-lose game,” he said. “It will have its own certain consequences and will affect Iran’s decisions. We prefer that such a game is not played.”
Mottaki said Iran plans to seek bids for building two more nuclear power plants. Russia is finishing a plant in Bushehr that Iran expects to begin producing electricity early next year.
The United States accuses Iran of using its civilian nuclear program as a cover to secretly produce nuclear weapons. Iran has rejected the allegations, saying its nuclear program is geared toward generating electricity, not a bomb.
Mottaki said Tehran would ignore European calls to stop uranium conversion, which was resumed last month at its Uranium Conversion Facility in Isfahan in central Iran.
“The issue of resuspension of work in Isfahan doesn’t exist in our agenda,” Mottaki vowed.
But he said Iran was willing to continue dialogue over its nuclear program with European negotiators.
Britain, Germany and France, negotiating on behalf of the 25-nation European Union, say they may help draft the language of a resolution demanding Iran be referred to the Security Council if it doesn’t stop uranium conversion by the Sept. 19 board meeting of the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency.
