Following Tehran's refusal to halt its uranium enrichment or allow random inspections of its program in exchange for a package of incentives, Security Council members began discussing sanctions against the Islamic Republic proposed by three European states.
Hosseini said Iran was carrying out its nuclear program within the framework of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and international norms.
The UN Security Council agreed Thursday on the main points of a draft resolution regarding Iran's disputed nuclear activities.
Russia has repeatedly said that sanctions are an ineffective way of settling the dispute with Iran, but has refused to rule out sanctions completely. The country proposed Wednesday its amendments to the resolution drafted by the U.K., France, and Germany. The United States also put forward its amendments.
The Security Council agreed that sanctions against Tehran should limit enrichment activities, fuel reprocessing, heavy water reactors and the delivery of nuclear technology.
The sanctions proposed by the three European powers 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.
But Russia and China, veto-wielding Security Council members with strong business interests in Iran, said the draft was excessively harsh, prompting the reversal of the draft resolution.
