IRAN: Tehran University students gather at Shell offices in capital to protest UN Security Council resolution to impose sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme

About 20 students from Tehran University gathered outside Shell's offices in the Iranian capital on Monday (December 25) to protest after the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to impose sanctions on Iran. The resolution, passed on Saturday (December 23) demands Iran end all research on uranium enrichment, which can produce fuel for nuclear power plants as well as for bombs, and halt all research and development on methods of producing or delivering atomic weapons. "The sanction against us is an insult to our nation and our government," said one student at the protest. "We call on our country 's senior officials to restrict economic and commercial activities of those countries which voted against Iran. We gathered in front of the Shell office to call on our officials to restrict this company's activities in Iran," added Ali Mohrami, another student protesting. The thrust of the sanctions is 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 original draft of the resolution was amended at Russia's behest to make it less restrictive. A ban on Iran's oil exports was not considered. Iran has condemned the resolution as illegal. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hinted that the resolution would alter Iran's relationship with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Iran has already banned IAEA snap inspections of its nuclear plants in February, in response to the referral of its nuclear case to the Security Council. Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said Iran would respond by going ahead with plans to install 3,000 centrifuges by March at its pilot plant in Natanz. It already has two cascades of 164 centrifuges running.

ITN Source | December 25, 2006

Tags:. .passed. .bombs. .capital. .response. .outside