Iran Majlis reacts to UN sanctions vote

Iran will reconsider its cooperation with the IAEA if the UN Security Council approves new sanctions against Tehran, a top Iranian lawmaker says.

The Security Council began on Tuesday a second day of closed-door talks on Iran’s nuclear program, ahead of a possible Wednesday vote on a US-drafted sanctions resolution.

Alaeddin Boroujerdi said on Tuesday that lawmakers in Majlis would “pursue putting to vote a bill for reconsidering the country’s cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)” if new sanctions are passed against Iran.

Boroujerdi, who heads the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said Iran expected countries such as China and Russia “not to bow to US pressure to pass the [sanctions] resolution.”

Both Beijing and Moscow agreed last month with a US-proposed resolution for a fourth round of UN sanctions against Iran.

The 15-member Security Council began closed-door talks for the second day in a row to discuss a request by Brazil and Turkey to have an open debate on Iran’s nuclear issue, AFP reported.

French Ambassador Gerard Araud said on his way to the meeting that he expected a vote on the sanctions resolution to take place on Wednesday.

Western countries have coldly received Iran’s nuclear declaration, in which Tehran agreed to send its low-enriched uranium to Turkey in return for nuclear fuel — a proposal originally outlined by the IAEA.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said earlier on Tuesday that Tehran would not continue negotiations with the West over its nuclear program if new sanctions against Tehran are adopted.