Iran stepped up its war of words with the West on Sunday over its nuclear programme by threatening to abrogate the international treaty on nuclear weapons if a binding United Nations security council resolution is set against Tehran.
In a letter to the UN secretary-general, Kofi Annan, the Iranian parliament demanded that its government pulls out of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty if the security council adopts a resolution that could pave the way for economic sanctions, and ultimately military action, against Iran.
Senior officials from the US, Europe, Russia and China are to meet in Paris tomorrow in the next round of increasingly hectic diplomatic activity concerning Iran.
Supported by the US, the British, Germans and French have drafted a security council resolution obliging Iran to halt its uranium enrichment programme, which the west fears is aimed at obtaining the material and knowhow for a nuclear warhead.
In the security council, Russia is the biggest obstacle to the adoption of the ultimatum and may dig in its heels further following last week’s strong attack on the Kremlin by the US vice-president, Dick Cheney. But the draft on the table in New York would not automatically trigger sanctions or other punitive measures against Iran if it defied the ultimatum. Another security council resolution would be needed for that, meaning that the Russians could agree to this one and keep their options open on follow-up moves.
While the Iranian foreign ministry said that any mandatory security council resolution would turn the crisis into one of confrontation between Iran and countries of the west, the country’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said that Iran would ”dash the illegitimate resolution against the wall”.
In what was taken as a threat that could be exploited by the regime at a later stage, the Iranian parliament’s letter warned that any mandatory resolution under chapter seven of the UN charter could lead to Iran reviewing its commitments under the nuclear treaty. Signatories to the treaty can withdraw from it at three months’ notice, as North Korea has done to pursue nuclear weapons.
The letter warned that Iran could severely curb cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and then invoke procedures for quitting the treaty.
The United States president, George Bush, said that threats from Ahmadinejad, particularly towards Israel, had to be ”dealt with”. He told Germany’s Bild am Sonntag newspaper that if Ahmadinejad was ready to destroy one country (Israel), ”then he would also be ready to destroy others”. President Bush added: ”This is a threat that needs to be dealt with.” – Guardian Unlimited Â