Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Thursday criticized a UN Security Council statement on its nuclear program, saying it was "nothing short of injustice, double-standard and power politics."

The statement will "make it much harder for us to actively pursue further initiatives and cooperation," Mottaki told a session of the Conference on Disarmament held in Geneva's Palace of Nations.

The statement was issued on Wednesday following weeks of discussions among the five Security Council permanent members. It urged Iran to observe a resolution by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and suspend all uranium enrichment activities within 30 days.

Mottaki also said the referral of Iran's nuclear program to the Security Council was a result of political maneuvering by some Western countries.

It was an abuse of the international mechanism, misguided, legally unwarranted and clearly unacceptable to Iran, he said.

"This approach would not serve anybody's purpose in resolving the issue and would only undermine the authority of the IAEA and the international organs which are to maintain peace and security, " he added.

The minister said that access to peaceful nuclear technology was an indisputable right of Iran and all parties of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

"I must stress that the adoption of political means to deny nations their inalienable rights will undoubtedly be futile, will undermine international instruments and will create crisis," he said.

Source: Xinhua