IRAN: Senior Iranian cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati says Iranian people will stand against implementation of sanctions proposed in a U.N. resolution on Iran's nuclear programme

A Senior Iranian cleric said on Friday (December 22) the Iranian people would stand against the implementation of sanctions proposed in a U.N. resolution on Iran's nuclear programme. Iranian senior cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, head of the Guardian Council, made his comments during Friday prayers at Tehran's university campus. "If you (Westerners) want to issue a resolution, please do it. Our people will put up with it. Our people are powerfully standing against your hegemony. They (Iranians) are decisive to stand up against you till the final point,"Jannati said. The U.N. Security Council was expected to vote on Friday on the latest European draft resolution imposing sanctions on Iran's nuclear programme. Russia has called for a one-day delay on the vote. Iran has vowed to continue its nuclear work, which it says is for peaceful uses only, despite the resolution, even if it is approved by Russia. Russia is building an 800 million U.S. dollar light-water reactor for Tehran at Bushehr that is exempted in the resolution. The draft demands Tehran end all uranium enrichment work, which can produce fuel for nuclear power plants as well as for bombs, and halt research and development that could lead to atomic weapons. The sanctions include a ban on imports and exports of dangerous materials and technology relating to uranium enrichment, reprocessing and heavy-water reactors, as well as ballistic missile delivery systems. The measure is a reaction to Iran's failure to comply with an Aug. 31 U.N. deadline to suspend uranium enrichment work and resume negotiations. The resolution is under Article 41 of Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which makes enforcement mandatory but restricts action to nonmilitary measures. It would suspend sanctions if Tehran in turn suspended "all enrichment related and reprocessing activities, including research and development." The bans would be lifted once Iran had fully complied with Security Council resolutions and directives from the International Atomic Energy Agency. But if Iran refuses the council would consider further measures, the text says.

ITN Source | December 22, 2006

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