LONDON, Feb. 1 (UPI) -- British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw met with his Iranian counterpart in London Wednesday, and warned Iran not to abandon nuclear negotiations.
Before the meeting, Straw told the BBC that Manouchehr Mottaki "really needs to see this agreed position by the leaders of the international community, not as a threat but as an opportunity ... a final opportunity for Iran to put itself back on track."
Tuesday, the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany, agreed to ask the International Atomic Energy Agency to report Iran to the council over its nuclear ambitions.
But early Wednesday, a defiant Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad went on national television to denounce the move.
"I am telling those fake superpowers that the Iranian nation became independent 27 years ago and ... on the nuclear case it will resist until fully achieving its rights," he said.
Iran insists its newly restarted nuclear research is only for the production of electricity.
Iran's parliament announced Wednesday that it would halt snap U.N. inspections of its atomic facilities and resume uranium enrichment if its case is referred to the Security Council, CNN said.
