Iran has ‘appropriate tools’ to confront Western pressure (Roundup)

m&c news

Tehran - Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said Wednesday that Iran had the ‘appropriate tools’ to confront Western pressure in the dispute over its nuclear programme.

‘If they (Western countries) think they can put pressure on us, then they should know that other countries also have appropriate tools to confront such pressures,’ said Larijani, who is also secretary of the National Security Council, in remarks reported by ISNA news agency.

Larijani did not evaluate further but Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri- Hamaneh had said Tuesday that Iran would not rule out using oil as a weapon following a recent decision by the United Nations Security Council to impose sanctions on the Islamic state over its nuclear programmes.

On accelerating work on nuclear programmes as called for in a parliamentary bill approved earlier Wednesday, Larijani said that if Iran’s right to civilian nuclear energy was not recognized, Tehran would continue its work.

‘The IAEA has already been informed of our operations and nothing has been concealed,’ the nuclear chief said referring to Iran’s announcement that it would soon install 3000 centrifuges for uranium enrichment.

The UN resolution was approved because the United States wanted to humiliate Iran, Larijani said, adding that ‘contrary to the US aim, such moves have just made us stronger.’

On the parliament’s nuclear bill, he said the National Security Council had formed a committee to study the course to be taken.

The Iranian parliament unanimously approved a bill on revising cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and to accelerate work on nuclear energy projects.

Detailed evaluation of the issue is to be left however to the National Security Council.

According to the Iranian constitution, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has the final say on all state affairs, including the nuclear issue, and can overrule governmental and parliamentary decisions.

Observers consider the bill as a more a symbolic than a binding gesture as the nuclear issue is regarded in Iran as a ’state matter’, that is decided at the highest level in line with national interests.

The Iranian legislation came after the UN Security Council on December 23 passed a resolution calling on governments to ‘prevent the supply, sale or transfer, directly or indirectly from their territories … of all items, materials, equipment, goods and technology which could contribute to Iran’s enrichment-related, reprocessing or heavy water-related activities, or to the development of nuclear weapon delivery systems.’