Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Iranian cleric defies nuclear watchdog

|
|
 
  
Published: Nov. 28, 2009 at 3:15 PM

TEHRAN, Nov. 28 (UPI) -- A senior Iranian cleric said Saturday the country will not be forced to give up its nuclear enrichment program by a resolution from a U.N. watchdog agency.

Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami spoke at a ceremony for the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha or the Feast of the Sacrifice, PRESS TV reported.

"Rather than hurting Iran, the new resolution will impair the U.N. nuclear watchdog and Security Council," he said.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, meeting in Vienna, passed a resolution calling for an Iranian freeze on nuclear enrichment. China and Russia, which have been reluctant in the past to take a hard line with Iran, supported the resolution.

Ali-Asghar Soltaniyeh, the Iranian envoy to the IAEA, said Friday the agency has become politicized and should be concerned only with helping Iran on technical matters.

Topics: Ali Asghar, Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, Eid Al-Adha
© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Father's Day: Celebrity dads The 2012 Miss USA competition Faces of the 2012 French Open
2012 MTV Movie Awards Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee Notable deaths of 2012
Additional World News Stories
1 of 20
Lil Niqo arrives at the 2012 MTV Movie Awards in Universal City, California
View Caption
Rapper Lil Niqo arrives at the MTV Movie Awards at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California on June 3, 2012. UPI/Jim Ruymen
fark
Pacifist landlady says renting to soldier presents conflict of interest. Lawsuit and front page...
Police believe a mother strangled herself and her son to death, though not necessarily in that order...
Batshiat crazy former employee convinced Dollar Tree out to 'get him' - sets fire to store, destroying...
Some of the world's weirdest ice cream flavors. Come for the octopus and stay for the pink peppercorn...
Nearly half of Americans believe in Creationism, sex in the Champagne Room
Armed robbers break into video store and leave emptyhanded, proving once again that there just isn't...