Iran threatened on Monday to resume uranium enrichment and halt surprise checks of its nuclear facilities if the UN nuclear watchdog refers its nuclear case to the Security Council, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"If the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) does not amend its resolution or insists on applying it, Iran will be forced to cancel all its voluntary and temporary concessions, including the implementation of the Additional Protocol," Iran's student news agency ISNA quoted the statement as saying.

Iran signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Additional Protocol in 2003, which allows the United Nations to take snap checks of its nuclear facilities. But Iran's parliament has not ratified it.

The statement came following the IAEA Board of Governors adopted a resolution proposed by the European Union (EU) in Vienna on Saturday, accusing Iran of breaching the NPT. However, the resolution does not demand an immediate referral of the Iranian case to the UN Security Council.

Iran, a member of the IAEA but not a member of the IAEA Board of Governors, has fiercely rejected the resolution, calling it "unacceptable and illegal."

A decision on whether to refer Tehran to the Security Council is expected to be taken at the IAEA's next board meeting in November.

Earlier in the day, Gholam-Reza Aqazadeh, Vice President and chief of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization warned in Vienna that the referral would "breed tension" and increase volatility in the Middle East.

"There is no doubt that a report to the Security Council initiates a chain of events, of actions and reactions, that breed tension and add volatility to an already vulnerable political situation in the region," Aqazadeh was quoted by official media as saying at the annual conference of the IAEA.

Aqazadeh complained that Iran had been deprived of legitimate nuclear rights for years under the circumstances that it has voluntarily applied the Additional Protocol of the NPT and taken many confidence-building measures.

"It is being said that the Additional Protocol cannot reliably guarantee a favorable result," Aqazadeh stressed.

Meanwhile, a top lawmaker told the official IRNA news agency that a group of Majlis (Parliament) members would put forward an urgent plan on Tuesday to press the government to "suspend implementation of the Additional Protocol."

"Iran has adopted measures to build confidence and prove the peaceful nature of its nuclear program for two years, but the IAEA ignored the country's inalienable rights on peaceful nuclear technology by passing a resolution declaring it guilty of violating its NPT commitments," Hamid-Reza Hajiba Bayee, member of the Majlis Presiding Board, was quoted as saying.

Bayee further said that if the plan was approved on Tuesday, its general outlines and details would be further discussed in the parliament.

Furthermore, the Iranian government was also urged to take retaliatory actions in trade against the EU and some other countries due to their stance on Iran's nuclear issue.

The National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of the Majlis has called for a report on the volume of Iran's trade exchanges with the three European countries of Britain, France and Germany that drafted the resolution against Iran in the IAEA, Ala'eddin Borujerdi, chairman of the committee, told reporters on Monday.

"If such a report is presented, an appropriate decision will be made on the continuation of economic cooperation with the three European countries based on their position and other countries which voted in favor of the resolution," Borujerdi said.

The current nuclear standoff was triggered by Tehran's resumption on Aug. 8 of its highly sensitive uranium conversion activities after rejecting an EU proposal to give up its nuclear fuel work in return for economic and technical incentives.

Tehran agreed to suspend all activities related to uranium enrichment last November as a "temporary and voluntary" confidence-building measure while talks with the EU trio of Britain, France and Germany lasted.

The EU has been persuading Tehran to abandon its efforts to build nuclear fuel cycles, including uranium enrichment. However, Iran insists that it never give up legal rights of the peaceful use of nuclear technology.

The United States accuses Iran of developing nuclear weapons under the disguise of civilian program, a charge rejected by Tehran.

Source: Xinhua