The latest round of
Security Council sanctions against Iran will not prevent the country from proceeding with its nuclear program, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Thursday.
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In a letter addressed to the fifteen member-states of the UN Security Council and
communicated by AFP, Mottaki wrote that Teheran “considers that the
adoption of such resolutions [against Iran] will not affect its utterly
peaceful nuclear program.”
He reportedly added that the “hasty adoption” of “unjust and illegal”
new sanctions had only made the Islamic republic “more determined” to go
ahead with its plans.
On Friday, the Obama administration
welcomed Congressional approval of
sweeping Iran sanctions, after months of reservations and negotiations
over the legislation. One week previously, the European Union for the
first time
approved energy sanctions as part of a package of strong measures to combat the Islamic republic's refusal to negotiate over its nuclear program.
Both moves followed a fourth round of sanctions imposed on Teheran by
the UN Security Council.
Hilary Leila Krieger in Washington contributed to this report.