Iran vows never to abandon enrichment

Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki vowed on Tuesday that Tehran would never give up its right to uranium enrichment.

"The right to uranium enrichment is a right enshrined by the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and Iran just wants to and will enjoy its right," Mottaki told reporters.

Meanwhile, Iranian Majlis (Parliament) Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel rejected as "illegal" and "unfair" a non-binding statement adopted by the UN Security Council on March 29, which asks Iran to suspend uranium enrichment activities in 30 days.

"The Security Council has been affected by big powers...We regret that the council, which must keep peace and security, has turned into a tool for practicing discrimination," Adel was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying at the first open session of the Majlis after the Iranian new year vacation.

The International Atomic Energy Agency on March 8 handed over files of the Iranian nuclear issue to the UN Security Council after a board of governors' meeting.

Iran has denounced the involvement of the Security Council, vowing never to give in to pressures and bullies.

Source: Xinhua