Larijani blasts US for anti-Iran UN bid

Iran’s Parliament (Majlis) Speaker blasts new US effort to impose sanctions on Tehran, warning it would turn Iran against a nuclear swap deal.

Ali Larijani cautioned Sunday that if the US engages in (such) adventurism in the UN Security Council or the US Congress, it would destroy all the efforts that Turkey and Brazil have put into the Tehran nuclear declaration, cancelling the operational procedure of any nuclear fuel swap deal with Iran, IRNA reported.

Speaking at the open session of the Majlis, Larijani blasted the draft UN sanctions resolution prepared by the US after the issuance of the trilateral Tehran Declaration on a nuclear fuel swap deal and sternly warned that if the efforts persist, the Majlis will adopt alternative measures on future cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Referring to the mediation process involving Turkey and Brazil that led to signing of the recent declaration, the Majlis Speaker unveiled that the Americans submitted a written request to Turkey for its mediation effort in Iran’s nuclear case and also got Brazil involved in the issue.

Larijani then added that after Iran agreed to a nuclear swap deal under specific conditions discussed with our friends Turkey and Brazil, “the American suddenly engaged in deceptive work and by creating a lot of controversy, once again took a turn towards an anti-Iran resolution.”

He then accused US of mocking Turkey and Brazil with their dubious policies.

Larijani also revealed that Iran had initially cautioned the two friendly states that it does not regard Americans as trustworthy and, therefore, could not agree to ship its enriched uranium to Turkey.

Furthermore, Iran’s top legislator raised the possibility that the US and some European governments may be imagining that by creating such uproar, they may be able to pursue and take advantage of the Tehran Declaration on a selective basis.

Larijani then expressed Majlis’s fierce opposition to such manipulative attempts, insisting that “Iran will merely engage in implementing all terms of the Tehran Declaration as a whole and through mediation efforts by Turkey and Brazil.”

Last Monday, Tehran, Turkey and Brazil issued a joint declaration, according to which Iran would send 1,200 kilograms of its 3.5-percent enriched uranium to Turkey in exchange for 120 kilograms of 20-percent enriched nuclear fuel.

The declaration, widely welcomed as a major breakthrough in Iran’s nuclear deadlock, was a follow-up to an earlier plan to provide fuel for the Tehran Research Reactor, which produces radioisotopes for cancer treatment.

Nevertheless, on Tuesday the United States submitted a draft UN resolution calling for an international clampdown on Iranian banks, shipping, and business dealings that could be linked to Iran’s nuclear activities.