Iran Vows to Meet NPT Principles

A senior Iranian official pledged yesterday that his nation would follow the “principles” of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, Agence France-Presse reported.  Top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani visited Beijing this week in the wake of last month’s decision by the U.N. Security Council to impose economic sanctions against Iran (see GSN, Jan. 4).

“Iran will still honor the principles of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and continue to seek a just and reasonable solution to the Iranian nuclear issue through talks,” he said during a meeting with Chinese State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan.

Larijani’s remarks followed an ominous statement earlier in the week from an Iranian spokesman.

“If we are put under pressure and deprived of our rights, we can use our capacity to decide whether to stay within the treaty or to quit it,” said government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham (Agence France-Presse I/Yahoo!News, Jan. 5).

For its part, China today urged Iran to heed the Security Council’s decision, which calls for sanctions to be suspended if Iran freezes its uranium enrichment program.

The resolution “reflects the shared concerns of the international community over the Iranian nuclear issue, and we hope Iran could make a serious response to the resolution,” said Chinese President Hu Jintao during a meeting with Larijani (Associated Press I/Yahoo!News, Jan. 5).

Meanwhile, the International Atomic Energy Agency is reviewing whether any of its technical cooperation programs with Iran must be stopped to abide by council resolution, AFP reported today.

The question could force an emergency meeting of the agency’s governing board later this month or in early February, according to AFP (Agence France-Presse II/SpaceWar.com, Jan. 5).

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