TEHRAN, January 13 (RIA Novosti) - The Iranian foreign minister warned Europe Friday that it would lose other options to solve the dispute over its nuclear programs if referred the matter to the UN Security Council.
"Should Iran's nuclear file be referred to the UN Security Council, Europeans will lose all other options currently in their possession at talks with Tehran, since the Iranian government will have to give up all contacts with the IAEA under a parliamentary resolution approved earlier," Manouchehr Mottaki told a government session.
The foreign ministers of Germany, Britain, and France, the European trio, which brokered the moratorium two years ago, made a decision in Berlin Thursday to convene a meeting of the 35-member Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN's nuclear watchdog. The trio said that it would have to turn to the Security Council if Iran did not change its approach.
Tehran announced Tuesday that it was resuming research into uranium enrichment, which some nations fear will be used to develop nuclear weapons, although the country has consistently maintained that it only wants nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. Iran removed the UN seals at its nuclear facilities this week thereby ending a two-year moratorium on nuclear research.
Moscow, which has consistently defended the Persian Gulf state's right to develop civilian nuclear energy, said it was "disappointed" with the decision.
Mottaki said that, as a party to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, Iran had the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. "And it does not need permission from any other country," he said.
He called on the European trio to "display restraint and patience and take a logical approach" to the problem.
"The Europeans could continue talks with us until an agreement is reached. This means they should recognize Iran's right to do nuclear research for peaceful purposes, while Tehran will have to provide clear explanations on its nuclear program and ease Europe's concerns," the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) quoted the Foreign Ministry as saying Friday.
"If the European countries choose to end talks with Iran, Tehran will take further steps in the nuclear sphere in line with its understandings with the IAEA," Mottaki said.
Mottaki gave assurances that Iran was willing to continue talks with the trio, just as it was discussing the problem with China, Russia and countries within the Non-aligned Movement, a third world association formed in 1961, on condition that Europe was prepared to discuss nuclear fuel production.
Russia, China, the United States, and the European trio are expected to coordinate their positions on the issue early next week.
Austria's ambassador to Moscow, Martin Vukovich, said Friday that the three European foreign ministers and Russia's foreign minister would meet in Vienna February 15 to discuss the Iranian problem.
Iran signed a protocol to the Non-proliferation Treaty in November 2003, allowing UN experts to hold inspections at its nuclear facilities. However, the document has not been ratified by parliament, and Iran has implemented it as a gesture of good will.
