Iran vows to continue atomic work despite UN resolution

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday rejected a U.N. Security Council resolution that would give his nation until Aug. 31 to suspend uranium enrichment. Instead, Ahmadinejad insisted Tehran would pursue its nuclear program.

Photo: Iran vows to continue atomic work despite UN resolution

"My words are the words of the Iranian nation. Throughout Iran, there is one slogan: 'The Iranian nation considers the peaceful use of nuclear fuel production technology its right,'" Ahmadinejad said.

The Security Council passed a resolution Monday calling for Iran to suspend uranium enrichment by the end of August or face the threat of economic and diplomatic sanctions.

Ahmadinejad said Iran will not give in to threats from the United Nations.

"If some think they can still speak with threatening language to the Iranian nation, they must know that they are badly mistaken," he said in a speech broadcast live on state-run television, the AP reports.

Russia said Iran should heed world opinion because the resolution “permits the continuation of efforts to resolve the problem by political and diplomatic means.”

“We call on Iran to listen to the opinion of world society,” a Foreign Ministry statement said Tuesday.

Because of Russian and Chinese demands, the resolution’s text was watered down from earlier drafts that would have made the threat of political and economic sanctions immediate. The resolution now requires the council to hold more discussions before it considers sanctions, MSN.com says

Iranian officials have said sanctions will harm the West more than Iran by sending oil prices to unmanageable levels.

"Those who think they can use the language of threats and force against Iran are mistaken," Ahmadinejad said in his speech, broadcast live on state television.

However, diplomats and analysts say Iran 's economy would be vulnerable to sanctions on industrial components, gasoline imports and European financing, The Washington Post reports.

Source: agencies

Prepared by Alexander Timoshik
Pravda.ru

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