Ahmadinejad dismisses latest sanctions
Photo: Reuters
Iran: UN decision worthless
Latest Security Council sanctions resolution is like 'piece of used paper that should be thrown to the garbage,' President Ahmadinejad says; Iranian parliament to reexamine cooperation with IAEA in wake of Wednesday's UN vote
Iran says Wednesday's Security Council decision to impose further sanctions on Tehran is worthless, stressing that it will not be abandoning its nuclear program.
The Iranian leader said that the latest Security Council decision will not be harming Iran's citizens, slamming the US for using its own nuclear weapons to threaten other countries.
The UN resolution "is worthless for the Iranian people," President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said following the vote.
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"Those who possess a nuclear bomb themselves and used it in the past, are now using it to threaten others," he said. "These decisions are like a used piece of paper that should be thrown to the garbage.
'A step back'
Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said that the UN decision constitutes a "step back." Speaking in a Dublin press conference, he insisted that Iranian moves thus far were premised on cooperation and trust.Earlier, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman slammed the UN decision, characterizing it as a "wrong move that will merely complicate the situation even further."
Another senior Iranian official warned the West, saying the latest move will lead to an impasse in negotiations and that Iran will respond to it decisively. "Any choice they make will lead to a proper and decisive response by the Islamic Republic," top negotiator Saeed Jalili said.
Elsewhere, the head of Iran's parliamentary Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee said that Tehran's parliament will re-consider Iran's ties with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In such case, parliament would be able to force local officials to limit their cooperation with IAEA inspectors.
