Iran rejected today a UN resolution calling on it to freeze uranium enrichment activities and threatened to stop snap checks of its atomic facilities if its case were sent to the UN Security Council.
It said that if the Security Council went as far as punishing Tehran with sanctions, Iran might follow North Korea and pull out of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty altogether.
Washington says Iran plans to use enriched uranium to make nuclear weapons, but Tehran says its nuclear programme is dedicated solely to generating electricity.
The UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog, unanimously adopted a resolution last night calling on Iran to suspend all uranium enrichment-related activities.
"Iran will not accept any obligation regarding the suspension of uranium enrichment," chief nuclear negotiator Mr Hassan Rohani told a news conference today. "No international body can force Iran to do so."
His words chimed with the view of the Iranian parliament, which urged the government to ignore the resolution. Mr Rohani predicted a rough ride in the weeks ahead, until the next IAEA board of governors meeting on November 25th.
"This is a war, we may win or we may lose," said the mid-ranking cleric, who is secretary-general of Iran's Supreme National Security Council.
Although the IAEA board termed the suspension a "necessary" confidence-building measure, it observed that any suspensions would be "voluntary decisions" for Iran and not obligations.
This would give Iran some room for manoeuvre, enabling it to suspend enrichment activities but tell its domestic audience it was not doing so under pressure from the UN watchdog. "Iran has never accepted suspension through a resolution, but through political talks," Mr Rohani said.