Mar 21, 2007 05:51 PM
associated press
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s top leader warned today his country will pursue “illegal actions” if the UN Security Council insists it halt uranium enrichment, an apparent reference to nuclear activities outside international regulations.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also warned the United States that Iran would fight back with “all its capacities” if attacked.
“Until today, what we have done has been in accordance with international regulations,” Khamenei said. “But if they take illegal actions, we too can take illegal actions and will do so.”
He did not elaborate on what the “illegal actions” could be, but Iran is a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, the agreement under which the UN inspections are held.
Iran says it will never give up its right under the treaty to enrich uranium and produce nuclear fuel. But it has offered to provide guarantees that its nuclear program won’t be diverted toward weapons, as the United States and some of its allies fear.
The five permanent members of the Security Council — the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France — and Germany have drawn up new sanctions to punish Iran for rejecting UN demands to halt enrichment, a process that can produce fuel for a reactor or fissile material for a nuclear warhead.
“If they want to treat us with threats and enforcement of coercion and violence, undoubtedly they must know that the Iranian nation and authorities will use all their capacities to strike enemies that attack,” Khamenei told the country in an address marking the first day of Nowruz, or the Persian New Year.
Ambassadors from the 15 Security Council countries held informal discussions in New York today ahead of a meeting to discuss possible changes to the draft sanctions resolution.
The new sanctions would ban Iranian arms exports and freeze the assets of 28 additional individuals and organizations involved in the country’s nuclear and missile programs, about a third linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, an elite military corps.
The package also calls for voluntary restrictions on travel by the individuals subject to sanctions, on arms sales to Iran, and on new financial assistance or loans to the Iranian government.
In Washington, U.S. administration officials urged patience with American efforts to crack down on Iran as Democrats levelled fresh criticism of the government’s approach.
“Iran is a country very much on the defensive right now,” said Nicholas Burns, undersecretary for political affairs at the State Department.
“The United States is committed to pursuing a diplomatic solution to the challenges posed by Iran. This will require patience and persistence,” he told the Senate Banking Committee.
The U.S. and France are hoping the new sanctions will be adopted by the end of the week, but that goal seemed complicated. South Africa, which holds the rotating Security Council presidency, has proposed extensive changes to the resolution, including eliminating the arms embargo and a 90-day “time out” on all sanctions.
Although the five council powers remained united on their draft, discussion of South Africa’s proposals seemed likely to delay a vote.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said his country “will not support excessive sanctions against Iran,” and added that the draft resolution has been softened at Moscow’s behest, including narrower restrictions on officials’ travel.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said he will travel to the United Nations if the Security Council decides to vote on sanctions. In his own New Year’s address, he accused world’s powers of waging “psychological warfare ... to block our nation’s progress.”
Khamenei said sanctions would backfire and only further motivate Iran to develop nuclear power without outside assistance.
“Sanctions may even, under circumstances, come to our benefit since they create more motivation for us,” he said. “Western governments don’t agree with Iran possessing nuclear power. Let them. Did we ask anybody permission to achieve nuclear power?”
Iran says it needs alternative energy sources for when its oil reserves run out.
“Nuclear energy is a must, a necessity in the long term,” Khamenei said. “One day oil will dry up. ... The Iranian nation needs nuclear energy for life, not weapons.”
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Iran has stated today that if the United Nations proceeds with imposing sanctions on the country or force them to halt their uranium enrichment, they will proceed with "illegal actions," but it was not clear if those actions meant moving towards a nuclear bomb or not.

"Until today, what we have done has been in accordance with international regulation. But if they take illegal actions, we too can take illegal actions and will do so," said Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the top leader of Iran during an address to his nation.

Khamenei also said that he will attack their "enemies" who attack Iran.

"If they want to treat us with threats and enforcement of coercion and violence, undoubtedly they must know that the Iranian nation and authorities will use all their capacities to strike enemies that attack," added Khamenei.

Despite the warning, the United States has said that the path to resolving their issues with Iran's nuclear enrichment is with "diplomacy."

"Iran is a country very much on the defensive right now. The United States is committed to pursuing a diplomatic solution to the challenges posed by Iran. This will require patience and persistence," said U.S. Department of State undersecretary for political affairs, Nicholas Burns.
 
Khamenei also stated that "nuclear energy is a must" and "a necessity in the long term. One day oil will dry up. ... The Iranian nation needs nuclear energy for life, not weapons."

France says that they are hopeful that by the end of this week, sanctions will be drawn up and imposed on Iran. 

Russia says that they "will not support excessive sanctions" on the Iranian nation and that "this is how they the U.S. acted in past times, during the Cold War, when they scared everyone with the Soviet threat and persuaded everybody to group together in a disciplined block," said Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov.

A meeting that took place on Wednesday between all 15 member nations of the U.N. Security Council was unsuccessful as no conclusion about Iran's nuclear program could be reached.