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Iran may limit cooperation with UN nuclear watchdog - MP

Iran Materials 1 October 2008 14:40 (UTC +04:00)

Iran is likely to limit cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency after a new UN resolution on the Islamic Republic's controversial nuclear program, a senior Iranian MP has said, reported RIA Novosti. The UN Security Council unanimously approved a resolution on Saturday reiterating demands for Iran to halt uranium enrichment. The resolution did not however impose any new sanctions against the Islamic Republic. Mousa Ghorbani told the Iranian news agency IRNA on Tuesday that both the recent report on Iran by Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and the UN Security Council's new resolution indicated that the West lacked goodwill towards Tehran. The International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog, said in late August that it had not been able to make substantial progress on clarifying whether Iran's nuclear program has military goals. The Iranian MP said the new UN resolution and the IAEA report were forcing the Islamic Republic to introduce new restrictions on its cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog. "Unfortunately, despite extensive cooperation with the IAEA, the heads of this body remain under pressure from the U.S., and in their report on Iran give the West another pretext to put pressure on our country. Taking all of this into account, there is no necessity for cooperation with the IAEA beyond the framework of international law," Ghorbani said. "To show its goodwill, Iran has provided the IAEA inspectors with full access to its nuclear sites but this decision will be considered," he said. At a meeting last week with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in New York, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed repeated U.S. accusations that Tehran was striving to develop nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is aimed purely at electricity production, and has pledged to continue uranium enrichment regardless of international sanctions.

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