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TEHRAN (AFP): Iran's parliament on Wednesday approved a bill obliging the government to “revise its cooperation” with the UN nuclear watchdog in retaliation for Security Council sanctions imposed on Tehran.
The text of the bill, which also tells the government to “accelerate” Iran's controversial nuclear programme, was approved by an overwhelming majority in the conservative-controlled parliament, with 161 in favour and 15 against.
The move is set to further inflame tensions over the Iranian nuclear programme, which the Islamic republic has vowed to expand in defiance of the sanctions agreed by the UN Security Council last week.
Iran has refused to heed the council's demand to suspend uranium enrichment, a process that Western countries fear could be used to develop a nuclear weapon. Iran insists its atomic drive is entirely peaceful.
The formulation of the bill gives the government a free hand to limit cooperation with the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as it sees fit. This could involve limiting UN inspections of its atomic sites, a move urged by several lawmakers.
Parliament speaker Gholam Ali Hadad Adel echoed comments from other top officials that Iran did not intend to quit the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty but emphasized the government could interpret the bill as it wanted.
“The government should react (to the bill) in a way appropriate to the international pressure,” he said.
“This could mean quitting the NPT or staying there. We will give a free hand to the government to take its decisions.”
Almost immediately after it was passed, the bill was approved as law by the hardline Guardians Council which vets all parliamentary legislation.
Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, said a “special committee” would now be set up to examine how to revise Iran's cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog.
“I believe they (the UN) are going in a wrong way. We are not seeking to radicalise the region's situation… but if they start such a behaviour, they must be responsible themselves,” Larijani was quoted as saying by the official news agency IRNA.
Iran in February stopped allowing extensive UN access to its atomic sites. But up until now it has still been permitting regular UN inspections of nuclear installations.
After weeks of diplomatic wrangling, the UN Security Council on Saturday adopted a resolution which imposes restrictions on Iran's nuclear industry and ballistic missile programme.
The debate in parliament was marked by a few dissenting voices from the minority reformists but the overwhelming majority spoke out in favour of retaliation.
“Rejecting this resolution means that a resolution that is even stricter will be passed in two months. The best solution is to establish a bridge with the other countries to reduce the tension,” said reformist MP Nourredine Pirmoazen.
However, a conservative deputy, Ebrahim Karkhaneie, said that “no country has the right to renounce its legitimate rights under threats.”
Iran's immediate reaction to the UN sanctions resolution was to announce it would press ahead with plans to install 3,000 centrifuges to enrich uranium at its key nuclear plant in Natanz, central Iran.
Officials have said they want Iran to celebrate a major step towards enriching uranium on an industrial scale when the country marks the 28th anniversary of the Islamic revolution in February.
Iranian oil and gas officials have also complained that US pressure on foreign banks not to lend to Iran have resulted in financing problems for key energy projects.
“Unfortunately, most of the foreign banks think politically instead of commercially and thus they impose some restrictions (on us),” the managing director of the Pars Oil and Gas Company, Akbar Torkan, was quoted as saying by the Sarmayeh newspaper.
