“Iran does not welcome the escalation of tension in its relations with other countries, but it is fully prepared to defend its national honor if certain countries continue pushing for sanctions and threatening the Iranian people and government in order to deny Iran its nuclear rights,” Mottaki said at a Persian Gulf security conference in the Bahraini capital Manama.
TEHRAN, Dec. 9 (MNA) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki warned on Saturday that Iran will reconsider its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) if the Western powers seek to deprive Tehran of its nuclear rights.
“Iran does not welcome the escalation of tension in its relations with other countries, but it is fully prepared to defend its national honor if certain countries continue pushing for sanctions and threatening the Iranian people and government in order to deny Iran its nuclear rights,” Mottaki said at a Persian Gulf security conference in the Bahraini capital Manama.
“Such measures will compel Iran to reconsider its cooperation with the IAEA,” he added.
Six major powers are to resume talks in New York next Monday on proposed targeted UN sanctions against Iran.
Tehran believes that dialogue is the best way to resolve the issue, the foreign minister stated, adding that there is no legal basis for the involvement of the UN Security Council in Iran’s nuclear dossier.
Applying double standards toward Iran will diminish the credibility of international institutions, especially the IAEA, he stated.
Mottaki also said that Iran is prepared, under certain conditions, to help the United States withdraw its troops from neighboring Iraq.
“If the United States changes its behavior in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf, the Islamic Republic of Iran is prepared to help the country withdraw its troops from Iraq and the entire region,” he said.
“We strongly believe that the key to solve Iraq's problems is the withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq and the cooperation of regional countries with its elected government and people,” he said.
