Iran Threatens to Halt Nuclear Checks

Anton La Guardia, Telegraph:

Iran yesterday threatened to halt spot inspections of its nuclear sites in retaliation for a harshly worded resolution that brought Teheran a step closer to being reported to the United Nations Security Council for possible sanctions. READ MORE

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at the weekend declared Iran to be in "non-compliance" with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty because of a catalogue of violations that has stoked strong suspicions that Iran is seeking to build an atomic bomb.

But because of opposition from Russia, China and several developing countries, Western states stepped back from an immediate referral to the UN.

The Iranian foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, nevertheless rejected the decision as "illegal, illogical and politically motivated".

Insisting that Iran would never give up the right to all aspects of nuclear technology, he declared that "Iran has no legal commitment to continue implementation of the Additional Protocol".

The Additional Protocol is a voluntary system of reinforced inspections that Iran currently abides by but has not yet ratified into law.

However the foreign minister said that Iran "does not see the path of negotiations closed".

Iran insists it seeks to develop nuclear energy only for civilian uses, but the West believes it is using this as cover for a military project.

Under the terms of a deal with Britain, France and Germany, Iran agreed to freeze the enrichment of uranium and reprocessing of plutonium - two technologies that would give it the means to make nuclear weapons.

But last month it defiantly restarted a factory making uranium hexafluoride - a preliminary step in the enrichment process.

Teheran now faces a dilemma over how to respond. If it curtails nuclear inspections, or acts on earlier threats to resume full-scale enrichment or use oil contracts to punish its foes, it may fuel suspicions that it has something to hide.

The abstention by Russia, China and many developing world countries means that Iran cannot entirely rely on them to block a referral to the Security Council, or later action by it. The fact that India, a pillar of the Non-Aligned Movement, voted with the West against Iran was a particular shock.

In Teheran, the Aftab-e Yazd daily newspaper commented: "Overestimating some countries' verbal support and making a fuss over it was a mistake. It has imposed huge costs on Iran."