Iran's top leader demands end to UN Security Council nuclear oversight

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
In an unprecedented meeting, Iran's top leader told the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency on Saturday that the UN Security Council had no remaining justification for focusing on the country's nuclear program, state-run television reported. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters in Iran, told Mohamed ElBaradei that the IAEA should exclusively handle Iranian nuclear questions, saying resolution of the controversy would be a "great success" for the UN nuclear watchdog. Many Iranian officials, including hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have called Security Council pressure unjustified, especially in the wake of recent IAEA reports saying Iran had increased cooperation with the agency. But Saturday's statements were the first of this nature by Khamenei. "There is no justification for Iran's nuclear dossier to remain at the UN Security Council," state TV quoted Khamenei as telling ElBaradei.