TEHRAN — Top Iranian officials on Thursday blasted new sanctions imposed on the Islamic republic’s military establishment, and key lawmakers threatened to cut back on Iran’s already contentious relationship with the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog agency.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed the sanctions approved by the U.N. Security Council as “annoying flies” as useless as “used tissues,” according to the Associated Press.
Senior lawmaker Ismail Kowsari said two members of a key parliamentary committee would discuss a review of ties with the International Atomic Energy Agency on Sunday, the semiofficial Fars News agency reported.
Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the head of the national security and foreign policy committee, described the sanctions imposed Wednesday as “political, illegal and illogical,” AP said.
Iran’s nuclear polices are set out by the country’s National Security Council, but the parliament oversees a special deal between Iran and the IAEA that provides for a series of safeguard measures — among them U.N. inspections and the installation of U.N. security cameras at nuclear sites.
According to international law, Iran is not bound to adhere to the deal. But any cancellation is widely expected to further raise tensions over the Islamic republic’s controversial nuclear program.
Analysts here say Iran will tread carefully in order not to jeopardize its strong relations with Turkey and Brazil, both of which would likely disapprove of any reduction in cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog.
“The parliamentarians are very upset,” Ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh told reporters Thursday at the IAEA’s offices in Vienna. “As of now, there is no intention to withdraw from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty or to stop our cooperation in accordance with IAEA safeguards.”
Lawmakers have threatened in the past to reduce cooperation and even leave the treaty altogether. But they would never make such a move without the full backing of Iran’s leadership.
On Wednesday, however, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki hinted that some kind of reaction was underway.
“We made our move on the chessboard based on cooperation and trust-building, and that was the Tehran Declaration,” Fars quoted Mottaki as saying. “They are making their move on the chessboard and based on the rules, they should wait for Iran to make its assessments and make its next move.”
The Tehran Declaration is a treaty signed between Iran, Turkey and Brazil that was intended to jumpstart nuclear talks between Iran and the West. The United States turned down the deal.
