Iranian Majlis (Parliament) started the legislative process on Wednesday to press the government to cease the implementation of the additional protocol of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) by approving a motion to that effect.

The Majlis approved by a vote of 162 to 42 with 15 abstentions an urgent motion which lays out a plan for the government to suspend the implementation of the NPT additional protocol until Tehran succeeds in obtaining recognition of its right to complete the nuclear fuel cycle, the official IRNA news agency reported.

"Majlis urges the government to suspend the implementation of the additional protocol of the NPT in order to defend the indisputable right of the Iranian nation," the text of the motion said.

However, Iranian Majlis Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad Adel stressed soon after the approval that the move did not mean Iran was quitting the NPT.

"The approval will not mean Iran is quitting the NPT or refusing to accept the additional protocol," Adel said, adding that Iran had implemented the additional protocol on a "voluntary basis."

The motion was prepared in reaction to the resolution on Iran's nuclear case adopted by the International Atomic Energy Agency ( IAEA) on Saturday, which accuses Iran of breaching international nuclear safeguards and committing suspicious nuclear activities.

The resolution, warning a defiance may lead to the referral of Iran's case to the UN Security Council, also urges Tehran to fully suspend all of its activities related to uranium enrichment, a key step toward nuclear fuel cycle but also potential for nuclear weapon building.

Iran rejected the resolution as illegal and unacceptable, urging the IAEA and the European Union to "correct" it.

Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued on Monday that Iran would cancel all its voluntary and temporary concessions, including the implementation of the additional protocol if the IAEA did not correct the resolution.

The motion approved on Wednesday said that the IAEA by adopting the resolution had ignored Iran's inalienable right to access nuclear technology.

"The IAEA resolution was approved despite all measures taken by Tehran over the past two years, ignoring the views of other IAEA members such as those from the Non-Aligned Movement along with the two member states which are also permanent members of the UN Security Council (Russia and China)," added the motion.

However, it will still take several weeks for the lawmakers to turn the plan of ceasing the additional protocol into a bill for the government to carry out.

The plan will firstly be discussed in the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Majlis as well as other sub- commissions and then, if approved, it will be sent to Iran's legislation supervisory body, the Guardian Council, for ratification, according to the Iranian law.

Iran signed the additional protocol in December 2003, which allows the UN nuclear watchdog to take snap inspections of its nuclear facilities. But Iran's parliament has not ratified it.

The current nuclear standoff was touched off by Tehran's resumption of its uranium conversion activities on Aug. 8, which it suspended last November to open the gate to negotiations with the EU.

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