Imposing Sanctions on Iran Illegal — Russian Diplomat

MosNews
Apr. 30, 2006

A former Russian Duma speaker said here Saturday that there was no legal basis for the imposition of sanctions on Iran by the UN Security Council, IRNA agency said Saturday.

Talking to IRNA, Ruslan Khazbulatov said Iran’s nuclear activities were being conducted within the framework of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

On the report of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei to the UN Security Council, he was of the view that the Security Council has “only the authority to ask Iran to cooperate with the IAEA and continue negotiations.” The Islamic Republic of Iran is an active member of both the IAEA and the UN, he said, and stressed that Tehran had repeatedly declared it had no intention of producing nuclear weapons.

Since Iran has not violated its obligations under the Non- Proliferation Treaty (NPT), there is no ground for the imposition of sanctions on the country, the Russian diplomat stressed, and added that coercive measures will only damage the interests of countries, including the West and even the U.S.

Terming the positions taken by Russia and China regarding Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities “logical,” Khazbulatov said US accusations against Iran were part of its war-mongering policies in the region.

Urging Washington not to repeat past mistakes such as its attack on Iraq, he said even western leaders believe an attack on Iran would be suicidal.

Exacerbating the Iran-US conflict will make tens of regional states involved in a possible war, he said, and stressed that any war will inflict the largest damage on Washington’s interests in the region.