AFGHANISTAN: Iranian Foreign Minister Motakki condemns UN sanctions during visit to Kabul.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Motakki on Thursday (December 28) condemned the U.N. Security Council's decision to impose sanctions over his country's nuclear program. Speaking in Kabul after holding talks with his Afghan counterpart, Manouchehr Motakki said the sanctions were "illegal." "Taking Iran's nuclear resolution to the U.N Security Council was a political decision, the recent imposition of sanctions on Iran by the Security Council was an illegal and unlawful decision," Motakki said. "The Security Council should be a place to consolidate the security to the nations. The Security Council should try to prevent any threat from nation onto other nation. The Security Council is not a place to threaten nations," he added. Iran's parliament passed a bill on Wednesday (December 27) obliging the government to "revise" its level of cooperation with the IAEA nuclear watchdog after the United Nations approved sanctions on Tehran over its atomic program. The bill also obliges the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to "accelerate Iran's nuclear activities" in defiance of U.N. Security Council calls to halt enrichment, which the West fears is a cover for building nuclear weapons. The Security Council voted unanimously on Saturday (December 23) to impose sanctions on Iran's trade in sensitive nuclear materials and technology, in an attempt to stop uranium enrichment work. Motakki left the question of how much progress Iran is making in its nuclear technology hanging in the air at his news conference. He told reporters in the next two months he expected to announce some "good news, new breakthroughs by our team of young scientists". The world awaits. ends

ITN Source | December 28, 2006

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