Head of Iran’s parliament slams US, IAEA; defends nuclear policy

Iran parliament head defends nuclear policy

TOKYO — Iran was within its international obligations when it enriched some of its uranium stockpile earlier this month and should not be subjected to U.N. sanctions over its nuclear program, its parliament speaker said Thursday.

Ali Larijani, speaking in Tokyo, said Iran has been unfairly singled out for pressure and threats by the United States over its development of nuclear technology, which he said was peaceful and intended solely to provide a source of energy.

“I say clearly, we will develop nuclear power for peaceful purposes, but not seek nuclear weapons,” said Larijani, who is also a top aide to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “We have enriched our uranium within international regulations. I don’t see why it is such an issue.”

Tehran produced its first batch of uranium enriched to a higher level earlier this month, prompting the U.S. and its allies to seek new U.N. Security Council sanctions. The West accuses Iran of seeking to build atomic weapons, and fears the enrichment of its uranium stockpile is a step in that direction.

Iran is already subject to three sets of Security Council sanctions meant to punish its refusal to stop uranium enrichment. Its recent rejection of a plan to strip it of most of its enriched stockpile plus its belated acknowledgment it had been secretly building a new enrichment facility has increased sentiment for a fourth set.

Tehran, however, has been undaunted.

Iran’s vice president has said the country plans to begin construction on two new uranium enrichment facilities in the next Iranian calendar year, which begins March 21. Iran approved plans in November to build 10 industrial scale uranium enrichment facilities, a dramatic expansion of the program in defiance of U.N. demands.

Larijani said Washington’s reaction has been excessive, and said further U.N. sanctions would be unwarranted.

“It has become a politicized issue,” he said.

Larijani claimed the United States is using international allies to pressure Iran because it wants to preserve its own nuclear supremacy. He had particularly harsh words for the International Atomic Energy Agency, which recently said it is concerned Tehran may be working on a nuclear warhead.

“The IAEA has two purposes, to eliminate nuclear weapons and to ensure the peaceful use of nuclear technology,” he said. “But has the number of nuclear weapons decreased since America dropped its bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? The U.S. has thousands of nuclear weapons. The IAEA can do nothing about this.”

Larijani spoke one day after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton expressed optimism about new penalties against Iran in the next 30 to 60 days.

Clinton, saying “Iran is at the top of my agenda,” told a Congressional committee that China, in particular, is becoming more receptive to sanctions because they increasingly worry Iran’s pursuit of a nuclear weapon will trigger an arms race in the Persian Gulf region.