Iranian Majlis (parliament) Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel said Tuesday
that a UN Security Council resolution urging Iran to stop uranium enrichment by
Aug. 31 has "no credit".
"Such resolutions have no credit," Haddad-Adel was quoted by the official
IRNA news agency as saying.
The speaker noted, "It is ridiculous the (UN) Security Council feels danger
over Iran's civilian nuclear program and issued a statement against Iran under
circumstances that the UN just expressed its regret over the Zionist regime's
crimes in Qana."
He was referring to a recent Israeli aid raid on southern Lebanese village of
Qana which killed some 54 civilians, mostly children and women.
The UN Security Council on Monday adopted the resolution by a vote of 14 to
1. Qatar, the only Arab nation in the Security Council, cast the only negative
vote.
The resolution, adopted after weeks of negotiation, demands Iran "suspend all
enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and
development."
On the insistence of Council members such as Russia and China, the resolution
dropped the threat of immediate sanctions, and requires the Council to hold
further discussions before it considers sanctions.
Earlier, Iranian parliament's foreign affairs commission spokesman Kazem
Jalali said that the UN Security Council resolution was "unacceptable".
"The Security Council resolution is unacceptable and is shifting the climate
down a path which will help no one," Jalali said.
Explaining Iran's position on the nuclear issue, Iranian ambassador to the UN
Javad Zarif said that Iran were not seeking confrontation and had showed its
readiness to engage in serious and result-oriented negotiation based on mutual
respect and equal footing.
"Iran's peaceful nuclear program poses no threat to international peace and
security and therefore dealing with this issue in the Security Council is
unwarranted and void of any legalbasis or practical utility," he said.
Iran has promised to give an official response by Aug. 22 to a six-nation
proposal which demands Iran suspend enrichment in return for economic
incentives.