Tehran demands apology over sanctions

Tehran demands apology over sanctions

By Harvey Morris at the United Nations

Published: March 27 2008 13:06 | Last updated: March 27 2008 13:06

Iran has demanded compensation for losses sustained as a result of what it termed “illegal” international sanctions against its nuclear programme along with an apology from the western states that sponsored them.

In a 20-page response to the latest set of measures imposed by the United Nations Security Council this month, Manouchehr Mottaki, Iranian foreign minister, said Iran reserved the right to take unspecified legal action against those who had sought to tarnish its image.

“These countries should, as a minimum step, admit their mistakes, apologise to the great nation of Iran, correct their behaviour, and above all, compensate all the damages they have inflicted on the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he wrote in a letter this week to Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General.

His vigorous rebuttal of accusations that Iran had so far failed to prove it was not developing nuclear weapons came in the context of a near-unanimous vote by the 15-member Security Council in favour of a third round of sanctions against Tehran.

Only Indonesia abstained in a March 3 vote to target Iranians most closely involved with its alleged nuclear weapons programme and to turn up the heat on banks suspected of financing it.

A copy of Mr Mottaki’s letter was also delivered to Mohammed El-Baradei, head of the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency, which the Iranian minister claimed had been fed false information by western countries about the nuclear programme.

Mr Mottaki singled out the US, UK, France and Germany for their “irrational” opposition, in violation of international law, to Iran’s pursuit of peaceful nuclear technology and said it masked a hidden political agenda. Iran did not believe assurances from these countries that they wanted to resolve the issue through dialogue.

He challenged the Security Council’s right to take up the nuclear issue in the absence of evidence from Mr Baradei that nuclear material had been diverted for military purposes. “Iran’s peaceful nuclear programme has never posed any threat to international peace and security and Iran has not violated its obligations according to the non-proliferation treaty,” he wrote.

Mr Mottaki also challenged the right of the Security Council to urge states to search suspect Iranian cargoes or to impose restrictions on named individuals that Iran regarded as heroes of its eight-year war with Iraq.

As Mr Mottaki’s defence of Iran’s position was unlikely to change the Security Council’s stance on current sanctions, it might be aimed at influencing non-permanent members of the world body in the event of further restrictions being introduced if Iran fails to suspend uranium enrichment.

This month’s package was watered down to accommodate the reservations firstly of Russia and China and subsequently of six non-permanent members, including South Africa, Libya and Vietnam.

Mr Mottaki noted that further measures had already been threatened and “due to contradiction of these resolutions to the UN Charter, the Islamic Republic of Iran is not obliged to implement their unlawful demands”.

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Tehran demands apology over sanctions

By Harvey Morris at the United Nations

Published: March 28 2008 02:00 | Last updated: March 28 2008 02:00

Iran has demanded compensation for losses sustained as a result of what it termed "illegal" international sanctions against its nuclear programme along with an apology from the western states that sponsored them.

In a 20-page response to the latest set of measures imposed by the United Nations Security Council this month, Manouchehr Mottaki, Iranian foreign minister, said Iran reserved the right to take unspecified legal action against those who had sought to tarnish its image.

"These countries should, as a minimum step, admit their mistakes, apologise to the great nation of Iran, correct their behaviour, and above all, compensate all the damages they have inflicted on the Islamic Republic of Iran," he wrote in a letter this week to Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General.

His vigorous rebuttal of accusations that Iran had so far failed to prove it was not developing nuclear weapons came in the context of a near-unanimous vote by the 15-member Security Council in favour of a third round of sanctions against Tehran.

Only Indonesia abstained in a March 3 vote to target Iranians closely involved with the alleged nuclear weapons programme and to turn up the heat on banks suspected of financing it.

A copy of Mr Mottaki's letter was also delivered to Mohammed ElBaradei, head of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency, which the Iranian minister claimed had been fed false information by western countries about the nuclear programme.

Mr Mottaki singled out the US, UK, France and Germany for their "irrational" opposition, in violation of international law, to Iran's pursuit of peaceful nuclear technology and said it masked a hidden political agenda. Iran did not believe assurances from these countries that they wanted to resolve the issue through dialogue.

He challenged the Security Council's right to take up the nuclear issue in the absence of evidence from Mr ElBaradei that nuclear material had been diverted for military purposes. "Iran's peaceful nuclear programme has never posed any threat to international peace and security and Iran has not violated its obligations according to the non-proliferation treaty," he wrote.

Mr Mottaki also challenged the right of the Security Council to urge states to search suspect Iranian cargoes or to impose restrictions on individuals that Iran regarded as heroes of its eight-year war with Iraq.

As Mr Mottaki's defence of Iran's position was unlikely to change the Security Council's stance on current sanctions, it might be aimed at influencing non-permanent members of the world body in the event of further restrictions being introduced if Iran fails to suspend uranium enrichment.

This month's package was watered down after reservations firstly from Russia and China and subsequently from six non-permanent members, including South Africa, Libya and Vietnam.