Iran-London Ambassador
Iranian Ambassador to London Rasoul Movahedian has rejected last month's unilateral move by the EU to impose new sanctions against Iran as both illegal and counter-productive.

The continual insistence by western countries for Iran to suspend its legal right to enrich uranium was a "waste of time," Movahedian said. Suspension, he said, should be "consigned to history." In an interview with IRNA, he said that reports of even a short suspension were not from Iranian sources. "In principle, such a notion was not even on the table," he said.

"Iran in the past had suspended its enrichment program for two- and-a-half years, but resulted in an more belligerent stance taken by the west, making new demands and denying the country's basic rights," the ambassador said.

Instead, he believed there was a huge capacity in the diplomatic field and technicalities to create a positive atmosphere to resolve the dispute over Iran's nuclear program.

Movahedian referred to the bilateral and multilateral advances made with EU High Representative Javier Solana recently visiting Tehran.

Although Solana was accompanied by the political director of the British Foreign Office, he suggested that the initiative was jeopardized by Prime Minister Gordon Brown by immediately calling for more sanctions to be imposed against Iran.

The new sanctions move "undermined the latest efforts" and showed not all members of the so-called Group 5+1 backed Solana's initiative and others were clearly not happy, the envoy said.

"Despite this, Iran has taken a positive approach and has sent a reply," he said. Iran has also wanted the sincere engagement by Britain and has told them on many occasions not to try to use its influence in a negative way, he said.

With regard to the new EU sanctions, including freezing the accounts of Bank Melli, Movahedian said that they were "politically motivated just to put more pressure on Iran.

But he warned that they were "completely illegal" and would be challenged in court, even though he doubted whether Britain's judicial system could deal with the issue impartially.

The ambassador said that the sanctions were also unwelcome especially by European businesses who were being eliminated from Iranian markets and saw rivals from other countries seeking to take their place.

He also commented on the "farcical position" taken by Britain in being the first country to deproscribe the MKO, the self-declared terrorist group who had killed more than 12,000 people in Iran.

"It was a clear example of double standards, saying one thing and doing another," Movahedian said, warning that it had clear mplications for the UK's international responsibilities in combatting terrorism.

He also cited the case of Britain trying to extradite former Iranian ambassador to Jordan Nosratollah Tajik to the US after he was entrapped by American intelligence agents accusing him of illegal business that they had conspired to set up.

The 20-month case has had adverse effects on Tajik's physical and mental health. He is now severely ill in hospital with heart problems due to ill treatment with him, the ambassador revealed.