IRAN - May 7 - Tehran Vows To Ignore UN Resolution.

The government says that it will reject any UN resolution that punished it for its nuclear activities, and threatens to stop co-operating with the UN nuclear monitoring agency, the IAEA. "If the Security Council adopts a resolution which does not officially recognize Iran's right, Tehran will not implement it", the FM spokesman, Hamid Reza Asefi, said in a news briefing in Tehran carried by the Islamic Republic News Agency. He added that the involvement of the UN Security Council in Iran's nuclear case and any "incorrect decision" by the council could turn the path of cooperation into one of confrontation. "Any measure by the Security Council will have adverse impacts on the trend of the Islamic Republic of Iran's cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency", Asefi said. Asefi said that if Iran's nuclear program is taken up by the Security Council, instead of the IAEA, then "Iran should not be expected to continue its cooperation with the IAEA". Also defending Iran's nuclear program, Pres Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday that international treaties become "invalid" as soon as they fail to secure the rights of nations. Referring to the NPT, he said that in the case that such rights are violated, "then that nation would revise its decision and the treaty would become invalid", according to the Iranian press agency. Last month, Ahmadinejad said Iran had joined the group of nuclear nations by successfully enriching uranium to a low level for use in power plants. The IAEA said in a report on April 28 that Iran had persisted with its nuclear program and continued to defy the Security Council's demands for information. Foreign ministers from the US, Britain, and France will meet in New York on May 8 as part of a campaign to forge a common position on Iran since it failed to comply with the informal Security Council deadline to suspend uranium enrichment. Britain and France circulated a draft Security Council resolution May 3 demanding that Iran give up its nuclear activities, which the West believes are aimed at building bombs. The measure was drafted under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which makes resolutions mandatory and opens the way to penalties or military action. It does not mention sanctions, which would require a new resolution. The draft states the council's "intention to consider such further measures as may be necessary to ensure compliance with this resolution". It would order Iran to cease all uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities, including research and development and the construction of a heavy-water reactor. It also calls upon other countries to "exercise vigilance" in preventing the transfer to Iran of items that could help it develop its nuclear program. Asefi criticized the resolution, which is backed by the US, as being politically motivated. "Involvement of the Security Council in Iran's nuclear case is totally illegal", Asefi was quoted as saying.