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Iran has criticized new EU sanctions against the country over its nuclear program, saying such measures will “only complicate matters,” reports Press TV.

The European Union on Monday adopted new sanctions against Iran which mainly target investment in and technical assistance to Iran’s refining, liquefaction and liquefied natural gas sectors.

“Sanctions… will only complicate matters and move away [the parties] from mutual understanding,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast was quoted by IRNA as saying.

The sanctions came a day after the Iranian foreign minister announced Tehran was ready to hold talks with the West on nuclear fuel swap.

Manouchehr Mottaki made the remark in a press conference after holding trilateral talks with his counterparts from Turkey and Brazil in Istanbul on Sunday.

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A day after the UN Security Council voted on a US-drafted resolution for new anti-Iran sanctions, Tehran’s IAEA envoy reiterates that Iran’s nuclear enrichment will not be suspended.

Iran’s Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Ali-Asghar Soltanieh expressed regret about the persisting trend of misleading assessments made by the West regarding Iran’s nuclear policy.

“It is regretful that this small number of Western countries do not want to learn a lesson from their past mistakes…they suppose that by passing the new resolution, the Islamic Republic would falter in its decision,” Soltanieh said in an interview with IRNA on Wednesday.

The Iranian envoy criticized the new sanctions resolution for not having any “legal basis,” adding that it would only strengthen the Iranian nation’s resolve in defending their rights to such technological achievements.

Describing the fresh sanctions as a new failure for the US, Soltanieh said, “Iran will never put a halt to its enrichment program and will continue these activities under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency.”

The remarks were made after the United States moved firmly away from the Obama administration’s promise of diplomatic engagement with Iran and pushed through a new round of UNSC sanctions against the country.

As a result, the 15-member UN Security Council voted in favor of slapping a fourth round of sanctions against Iran on Wednesday under the allegation that Tehran is seeking to build nuclear weapons despite repeated assurances from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the non-diversion of nuclear material in the country.

However, as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Iran insists that it should be entitled to exercise its peaceful nuclear rights.

Read more here.

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Amid calls for tougher punitive measures against Tehran, an Iranian diplomat calls on Japan to listen to countries that do not favor fresh sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

Iranian Ambassador to Tokyo Abbas Araqchi said that Japan, which holds the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council, should listen to countries that do not support sanctions instead of leaving the matter to a handful of Western countries.

“It is not logical at all. It is not fair at all that we put everything in the hands of P5+1 and they decide for the world without taking into consideration the concerns of other nations,” Araqchi told national broadcaster NHK on Monday.

For years, the United States and European countries have sought to impose new UN sanctions against Iran, accusing it of planning to construct secret nuclear weapons.

Iran has rejected the accusations, saying that its nuclear program is intended for energy production, not weapons development.

“You cannot punish somebody now for a crime that he or she may commit in the future. You should punish those who have nuclear weapons and threaten to use them,” Araqchi added.

The Iranian envoy reiterated that Iran’s nuclear activities pursue civilian applications and dismissed sanctions as “unjust and unfair”.

Read more here.

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Amid US-led efforts for fresh sanctions against Tehran, China said Thursday that it would continue to work towards a “peaceful resolution” of the Iranian nuclear case.

“On the Iranian nuclear issue, China will continue to endeavor toward a peaceful resolution,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters.

“We have always and will continue to push for a peaceful settlement of this issue,” Qin said, adding that the standoff should be resolved by “diplomatic means”.

Qin’s remarks come as US ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said Wednesday that “China has agreed to sit down and begin serious negotiations” over imposing fresh sanctions against Iran.

The US, which accuses Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, has been lobbying for more UN Security Council (UNSC) sanctions against Tehran.

US-led calls have, however, received a chilly reception mainly from China, one of the five veto-wielding members of the UNSC, which insists that diplomacy can still work to solve the Iranian nuclear issue.

Iran says any punitive measures against the country are legally baseless as Tehran’s peaceful nuclear energy program is being fully monitored by UN nuclear watchdog, IAEA.

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Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said Friday that the country neither believes in atomic bombs nor is it seeking to develop such weapons, reports Press TV.

The Leader said the continuation of allegations by the West that the country is pursuing military objectives in its civilian nuclear program signals that the propaganda campaign against Iran has failed.

Iran has announced many times, he said, that its fundamentals and religious principles consider weapons of mass destruction as “illegal and haraam” — meaning forbidden and prohibited according to Islamic rules.

The West accuses Iran, a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), of seeking a nuclear weapon. Tehran, however, rejects the allegation and says its program is aimed at the civilian applications of the technology.

Iran in no way believes in an atomic bomb, and it does not seek one, Ayatollah Khamenei said.

Iran on Tuesday began enriching uranium to a level of 20 percent at its Natanz enrichment facility under the surveillance of inspectors from the UN nuclear watchdog.

The move comes after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad tasked the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) with enriching uranium to 20 percent in order to meet the demands of the country’s cancer patients.

Iran has earlier informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it would start enriching uranium to 20 percent on Tuesday in the presence of the inspectors and observers from the agency.

Iran needs 120 kg (264 lb) of 20 percent-enriched uranium to fuel the Tehran research reactor, which produces medical isotopes for cancer patients and is soon to run out of fuel.

The Tehran research reactor, which produces 20 different kinds of radio-medicine for cancer patients, runs on 20 percent-enriched U-235.

The AEOI Director Ali-Akbar Salehi on Tuesday confirmed the beginning of uranium enrichment to 20 percent purity level at Natanz plant.

“The enrichment started on Tuesday in a separate cascade from the production line that enriches uranium in Natanz,” Salehi told the Islamic Republic News Agency.

Meanwhile, Haaretz reports that U.S. President Barack Obama has pushed toward new international sanctions against Iran.

Read more here.

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Dozens of Basiji militants, supporters of the Iranian government of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have tried to assault the Italian embassy in Teheran shouting “Death to Italy, death to Silvio Berlusconi,” reports Corriere della Sera.

The militants, dressed as civilians tried to assault the embassy with stones and continued their aggressions against both the French and Dutch embassies.

The news was released by the Italian foreign minister, Franco Frattini, during a Senate hearing. There were no reports about wounded staff, but the attack, he said, was ‘worrying’.  The cause of the Iran militants’ assault is Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s criticisms of Ahmadinejad made during a visit to Israel. According to Iranian state television, Berlusconi and the Italian government were named as ’slaves of Israel.’

The Italian Foreign Minister Frattini then announced that he had given instructions to Italy’s ambassador in Tehran, Alberto Bradanini, to have no part in the ceremonies taking place on Thursday at the 31^st anniversary of the Iranian republic.

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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said that Iran’s enemies will not be able to block the country’s scientific progress.

In an address to the Second National Festival of Innovation and Prosperity in Tehran on Monday, Ahmadinejad said that young Iranian students would continue to attain great achievements in various technological fields.

The Iranian president also said the enemy assassinated Iranian particle physicist Massoud Ali-Mohammadi but added that such attacks would only strengthen the country’s resolve to strive to attain even greater scientific achievements.

Read more here.

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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has praised the Mauritanian government for breaking diplomatic ties with Israel.

During a meeting with Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz in Tehran on Monday, Ahmadinejad called the move a valuable step which “should set an example for the rest of the Islamic countries.”

Mauritania cut its ties with Israel during the December 2008-January 2009 Gaza war, during which over 1400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, were killed.

The Iranian president also called Israel the “root of all the corruption in the region.”

Mauritania’s president is currently visiting Tehran with a high-ranking delegation.

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Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Wednesday rejected the speculations that the US and Israel might launch an attack against the country, stressing that the Zionist regime does not dare to attack Iran.

We believe that the Zionist regime is not experiencing proper conditions to dare to attack Iran, Mottaki told reporters in a joint press conference with his Omani counterpart Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdallah here in Tehran today.

The Iranian top diplomat also described the possibility of a military attack against Iran’s nuclear installations as media propaganda by the Zionists and Americans which was heated during the presidency of George W. Bush.

“Since its illegal establishment in the region, Israel has brought the Muslim people of the region nothing but problem, annoyance, aggression, terror and massacre,” he added.

“Israel is a useless member which has been imposed on the region,” Mottaki said, reminding that due to the aggressive nature of the Israeli regime, it should always be watched and monitored.

Speculations that Israel could bomb Iran mounted after a big Israeli air drill in 2008.

Read more here.