Defiant Iran warns West against UN sanctions
Foreign Desk Report

PARIS—Iran’s president warned Washington’s European allies on Tuesday that Iran would reconsider its relations with them if they insist on punishing Tehran for its nuclear program, saying that would amount to an act of “hostility.”
His comments came ahead of a meeting in Paris of diplomats from the United States, Britain, France, China, Russia, and Germany to discuss imposing penalties on Iran for refusing to stop uranium enrichment.
“I’m telling you in plain language that as of now on, if you try, whether in your propaganda or at international organizations, to take steps against the rights of the Iranian nation, the Iranian nation will consider it an act of hostility,” President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a speech before thousands in northern Iran.
“And if you insist on pursuing this path,” he continued, Iran “will reconsider its relations with you.” It was the first time that Ahmadinejad had threatened to downgrade relations with European nations, which are responsible of a large portion of Iran’s international trade. It was not clear what steps Ahmadinejad had in mind. The president does not have the final word in Iran — that lies with supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. When Ahmadinejad on one occasion was quoted as threatening to retaliate against the West by restricting oil sales, he was quickly countermanded. Kristen Silverberg, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs, said Tuesday the Security Council should swiftly follow through on its earlier resolution demanding that Iran halt enrichment.
“It’s now a matter of international law, binding international law, that Iran suspend its activities,” Silverberg said in Berlin. “Iran has defied the international community in refusing to do so, and so we think it’s important that we move this sanctions resolution as soon as possible.
The Security Council has been at odds over how to deal with Iran’s defiance of the Aug. 31 U.N. deadline to halt uranium enrichment. Western powers accuse Iran of seeking nuclear bombs, while Tehran insists it only wants nuclear energy.
The Europeans and Americans want tough sanctions; Russia and China have pushed for dialogue, despite the failure of an EU effort to bring the Iranians to the negotiating table. French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said Monday the six nations were nearing an agreement.
Iran says it is entitled as a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes. The U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has criticized Iran for concealing significant aspects of its nuclear work and says it has failed to answer all questions about its program. Ahmadinejad, who was visiting Mazandaran province on the Caspian Sea, reiterated there would be no slowing of Iran’s nuclear program. “Thanks to the grace of God and (the Iranian people’s) resistance, we are on the final stage of the path to the nuclear peak. Not more than one step is left to be taken.