From FOX News: Iran to Suspend Cooperation With Nuke Watchdog Over Sanctions.
Iran isn't backing down after a unanimous vote by the U.N. Security Council to impose sanctions, announcing Sunday that it will partially suspend cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency and will be adjusting relations with those nations who voted for sanctions.Iranian officials called the vote by the U.N. Security Council in response to Tehran's refusal to stop enriching uranium "illegal and bullying."
"The Security Council has to be aware of its own position and status. Actions that are illegal, unwarranted and unjustified will reduce the credibility of the Security Council," Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said through a translator while in New York.
"A few select countries don't have the right to abuse the Security Council," Mottaki added.
In response to the vote, the Iranian Cabinet also decided to stop informing U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency of any new steps or decisions in its uclear weapons program, Gholam Hossein Elham, a government spokesman said on state television.
Sunday's decision is a response to "Saturday night's illegal and bullying resolution by the Security Council," Elham said. The suspension of cooperation "will continue until Iran's nuclear case is referred back to the IAEA from the U.N Security Council."
While Iran stands firm against the world, international pressure continues to mount for Tehran to release 15 British soldiers who Iranian officials say had crossed into Tehran's territory. Accused of trespassing, Britain says the sailors and marines were conducting a routine inspection of a merchant ship in the disputed Shatt Al-Arab waterway between Iran and Iraq when they were captured Friday by Iranian forces.
UPDATE -- March 26: Gateway Pundit has related video: Activist Zand-Bonazzi Says Mottaki's UN Speech Was "Regular Regime Taqiyya".
And The Jerusalem Post reports on yet another instance of Iran waging a war with us in Iraq: US troops attacked by Iranian military last year (hat tip Tim Sumner)
Posted by Forkum at March 25, 2007 04:47 PM
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