Iran dismisses threat of UN referral as propaganda

Tehran Times:

Iran has dismissed as "propaganda" the threat of being hauled before the United Nations Security Council, insisting it has every right to resume nuclear activities.

"There is no legal basis for sending Iran's nuclear case to the UN Security Council, and this is nothing but media propaganda," Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, the director of the Iran Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO), was quoted as saying. “Since the suspension was voluntary and aimed at trust building... there is no reason to continue the suspension," Aghazadeh said. "The Europeans should know that ending the suspension does not require the permission of any person or international body." READ MORE

"The Europeans, in their negotiations with Iran, should be serious. One of the conditions for continuing the talks was to see progress. We were not successful," said Iran's atomic chief.

He said Iran has been making "concessions to the Europeans one-sidedly".

Iran has said it now wishes to restart work at a plant in Isfahan, used to convert mined uranium "yellowcake" into a feed gas for centrifuges that carry out the enrichment process.

"The issue of stopping the nuclear negotiations with the Europeans is not on the agenda," Aghazadeh said, even though he repeated that Iran was also "seeking to remove some of the suspended activities from the suspension".

While many feel the Iranians have a right to enrich uranium for its nuclear program the Wall Street Journal thinks otherwise.