UN sanctions prompt Iran to limit cooperation with IAEA

March 26, 2007

The government of Iran will be limiting its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) a government spokesperson said, just a day after the United Nations voted to impose sanctions on Iran.

"It is not a new issue for the Iranian nation. Enemies of the Iranian nation have made a mistake this time too. [Sanctions] will not halt Iran's peaceful nuclear program even for a second. The Iranian nation will not forget those who backed and those who rejected (the resolution), while adjusting its international relations," said the president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Gholam Hossein Elham, a spokesman for the Iranian government said that the country would be halting all "code 1-3 of minor arrangements of the safeguards" with the IAEA and will "continue until Iran's nuclear case is referred back to the IAEA from the U.N Security Council."

Elham also said that the sanctions imposed on the country are "illegal" and also said that the U.N. is "bullying" the nation.

, the acting United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations, said that the sanctions "sent a clear and unambiguous message to Iran" that continuing to build a nuclear program "will only further isolate Iran and make it less, not more, secure."