Iran yesterday condemned a UN sanctions resolution as "a piece of torn paper" that would not scare Teheran and vowed to accelerate uranium enrichment work immediately.

The UN Security Council voted unanimously on Saturday to impose sanctions on Iran's trade in sensitive nuclear materials and technology, in an attempt to stop uranium enrichment work that could produce material to be used in bombs.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said those who backed the resolution, drawn up by Britain, France and Germany but supported unanimously by the Security Council, would soon regret their "superficial act."

"It is a piece of torn paper... by which they aim to scare Iranians," the Fars news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.

"Give up this muppet game. You (the backers of the resolution) cannot send secret friendly messages to us and at the same time show your teeth and claws," Ahmadinejad was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying in a speech at the former US Embassy in Teheran.

Iran insists its nuclear development, which had been carried out for many years, is intended only for purposes of electrical power and denies Western accusations it seeks nuclear weapons.

Chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, reacted swiftly to the vote.

"We will start our installation activities (of 3,000 centrifuges) at the Natanz facility from Sunday," he told the Kayhan newspaper. "It is our immediate answer to the resolution and we will go ahead with full speed."

Acting US Ambassador Alejandro Wolff told the council before Saturday's 15-0 vote, which followed two months of tough negotiations: "Today we are placing Iran in the small category of states under Security Council sanctions."

The resolution demands Iran end all research on uranium enrichment, which can produce fuel for nuclear power plants as well as for bombs, and halt all research and development on methods of producing or delivering atomic weapons.

The thrust of the sanctions is a ban on imports and exports of dangerous materials and technology relating to uranium enrichment, as well as ballistic missile delivery systems.

Less restrictive

The original draft of the resolution was amended at Russia's behest to make it less restrictive. A ban on Iran's oil exports was not considered.

The resolution is under Chapter 7, Article 41 of the UN Charter, which makes enforcement mandatory but restricts action to non-military measures, and Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin emphasised this point.

Russia, which is building an US$800 million light-water reactor for Teheran that is exempted in the resolution, has tried to maintain close ties with Iran but is also concerned about any bomb-building intentions Iran may have.

The resolution includes a freeze on financial assets abroad of 12 individuals and 10 organizations to prevent them from buying dangerous materials. The list is attached to the resolution.

But there are numerous qualifications, including exempting contracts made prior to the adoption of the resolution.

Washington wants more

The US has been left disappointed that the ban does not impose harsher controls.

"We don't think this resolution is enough in itself," said Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns. "We'd like to see countries stop doing business as usual with Iran."

Source: China Daily