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By Llanesca Panti, Reporter
The Iranian ambassador to the
Philippines, Ali Mojtaba Rouzbehani, said his government is not
giving in to the new United Nations sanction that calls for more
economic, political and travel restrictions on Iranians on account
of its refusal to drop its nuclear-development program.
During an exclusive roundtable
with The Manila Times editors, columnists and reporters on Tuesday,
Rouzbehani stressed that Iran knows its rights and responsibilities
in developing its nuclear resources, and it is not willing to
surrender nor destroy them.
“We can’t compromise the
progress caused by our nuclear energy because of the [UN]
sanction,” he said.
The 15-member Security Council
recently adopted Resolution 1803 with a vote of 14-0. Indonesia
abstained from endorsing the document.
These restrictions include travel
restrictions and bans for more Iranians; an expansion of asset
freezes; curbs on dual-use items (or those used for both civilian
and military purposes); limitations on export credit; financial
monitoring; cargo inspections on Iranian aircraft and vessels; and
other possible “next steps,” referring to another set of
restrictive measures.
The controversy over Iran’s
nuclear power policy started in 2005, when the program came under
intense scrutiny after a report from an American intelligence
agency, the National Intelligence Center, was released.
The intelligence center declared
Iran had the capability and was in the process of developing nuclear
weapons, disguising it as a quest for nuclear power. It, however,
practically withdrew this in a later report in 2007.
Iran’s peaceful use of its
nuclear program is affirmed this February 28 when an International
Atomic Energy Agency report showed “increasing confidence” that
it was never Iran’s plan to use its nuclear program for military
operations and that it cooperated with the agency.
The energy agency said it can
verify the nondiversion of declared nuclear material in Iran and
that it has no concrete information about possible current
undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran.
“There was a lot of attention
paid to [the 2005] report,” said Ambassador Rouzbehani, decrying
that “the [National Intelligence Center] basically said they made
a mistake [in a later report], but still our nuclear power program
is under scrutiny.”
He noted that the
“intelligence” cited in the original report of the intelligence
center came from sources affiliated with a group classified as a
terrorist organization, the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization.
Rouzbehani said Iran is a
peaceful country, saying, “From the start, we never wanted to
attack any country because we are pushing for prosperity and
peace.”
He added, “Iran has never
attacked another country in the last 2,000 years,” preferring to
“[resolve] differences through diplomatic ways.”
“We are willing to solve the
problem, but not for some [other] country’s own interests. We do
not want to be bribed for that matter,” the envoy said.
At the United Nations, Chinese
envoy Wang Guangya maintained that the new UN Security Council
resolution on Iran is not aimed at punishing Iran, but urging Tehran
to return to the negotiating table and thus to reactivate a new
round of diplomatic efforts.
These measures “are not
targeted at the Iranian people and will not affect the normal
economic and financial activities between Iran and other
countries,” said Wang, adding that “all the sanction measures
are reversible.”
“If Iran suspends uranium
enrichment and reprocessing activities and complies with the
relevant IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] and Security
Council resolutions, the sanctions will be suspended, and even
terminated,” the Chinese ambassador said.
He added that the new resolution
reflects not only the international concern over the issue, but also
the expectations of all parties on an early peaceful settlement of
the issue through diplomatic negotiations.
Wang stressed that the
international community has mixed feelings about the developments of
the Iranian nuclear issue due to the latest report of the energy
agency, suggesting it can verify the nondiversion of declared
nuclear material, but has no concrete information about possible
current undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran.
Iran has clarified with the
agency other issues such as uranium contamination and polonium
experiments. It also provided information similar to that previously
provided pursuant to the Additional Protocol.
“China welcomes the
abovementioned cooperation between Iran and the IAEA,” Wang said.
But he pointed out, “Iran has not suspended uranium enrichment
activities as required by the Security Council resolutions, has
started the development of new generation centrifuges, and continued
construction of its heavy-water reactor and production of heavy
water, and the issues relevant to the possible military dimension of
Iran’s nuclear program remain outstanding.”
“As the impasse on the Iranian
nuclear issue is not yet broken, the international community is
increasingly calling for strengthened diplomatic efforts and hopes
that the parties concerned can find a breakthrough point soon and
bring the issue back onto the track of settlement,” Wang said.
“It can only serve as a means
to promote reconciliation and negotiations,” he added. “The best
way to resolve the issue is still diplomatic negotiations.”
--With Katrice R. Jalbuena and Xinhua
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