TEHRAN, December 13 (RIA Novosti) - Iran has rejected in advance a new UN Security Council resolution, which is currently coordinated by the Iran-6, the country's top nuclear negotiator said Wednesday.
"The latest draft resolution of the UN Security Council is unacceptable to Iran, as it restricts Iran's right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes," Ali Larijani said.
Following Tehran's refusal to halt its uranium enrichment activities or allow random inspections of its program in exchange for a package of incentives, European powers drew up proposals on sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
However, objections from Russia and China, which are key economic partners of Tehran and who considered the previous draft excessively harsh, prompted the formulation of a revised version of the resolution.
Larijani said the world community has no grounds for concern regarding the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program, as the country "has never used nuclear weapons."
He said Tehran is ready to resume talks, which were suspended because "Europeans failed to meet their obligations."
"The UN Security Council should not be involved in resolving the Iranian nuclear problem, as that is a technical problem that should be resolved under IAEA [the UN nuclear watchdog] control," Larijani said.
Sanctions against Iran proposed by Britain, France and Germany in the previous draft envisaged a ban on sales of missile and nuclear technologies to the country, the freezing of its military bank accounts, and the imposition of visa restrictions on Iranian officials linked to the nuclear industry.
Under the draft, the construction of Russia's Bushehr NPP in southern Iran would not have been banned, but fuel deliveries to the plant would have been restricted.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday that the new draft of the UN Security Council resolution calls for sanctions against Iran, but does not affect the $1 billion Bushehr project.
"The new draft limits deliveries of uranium enrichment, fuel reprocessing, heavy water reactor, and delivery technologies to Iran," he said.
But the chief of the Russian General Staff warned that the Security Council should be careful about sanctions against Iran, as they could have the effect of freezing negotiations on the country's nuclear program.
"In principle, sanctions are not an effective instrument to resolve problems, especially regarding Iran," Yury Baluyevsky told foreign military attaches Wednesday.
He urged that any further steps and their consequences be carefully considered.
"If sanctions are imposed, they will freeze prospects to launch talks in the near future. Tehran may reduce and even stop cooperation with the IAEA in response. Generally speaking, we will be gradually cornering Iran, the Security Council and the situation as a whole."
