Iran’s parliament on Wednesday approved a bill obliging the government to revise its co-operation with the International Atomic Energy Agency in response to a UN vote imposing sanctions on Iran’s trade in sensitive nuclear materials and technology.
Saturday’s UN Security Council resolution, aimed at dissuading Iran from carrying out uranium enrichment activities that could produce material to be used in a nuclear weapon, was dismissed by President Ahmadi-Nejad on Sunday as “illegal” and “superficial”.
Manouchehr Mottaki, Iran’s foreign minister, who attended a closed parliamentary session on Tuesday to discuss Iran’s response, told reporters that the government fully endorsed parliament’s plan, although it was not clear whether the move would be anything other than symbolic.
The bill - backed by 167 deputies out of 207 present in the 290-seat chamber on Wednesday - obliges the government to revise its co-operation level with the nuclear watchdog and also obliges the president to “accelerate Iran’s nuclear activities”. But it stopped short of approving demands by some politicians who wanted the government to end UN inspections of atomic facilities.
Iran’s policy seems to be neither to accept the UN demands, nor make any immediate threats to withdraw from the Non-Proliferation Treaty or to deliberately upset the oil market.
“MPs reiterated that we should not take any provocative step,” Ali Asgari, an MP told reporters after Tuesday’s meeting. “But we should have some surprising moves.”
He may have been referring to a statement by Ali Larijani, Iran’s top nuclear official immediately after the UN vote, who said Iran would go ahead with installing 3,000 centrifuges in its pilot plant of Natanz. Mr Mottaki said the centrifuges would start enrichment “soon”.
Experts believe that 2,000 centrifuges can produce sufficient highly-enriched uranium for a reactor or a bomb. Iran denies any military purposes for its nuclear programme, which it says it is merely for civilian purposes.
Analysts say Iran’s president believes sanctions will not hurt Iran and that the country should not show any sign of retreat. However, the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is thought to be the key decision maker, has not yet reacted to the UN resolution.
Additional reporting from Reuters
