26 September 2005

TEHRAN - Iran's reformist opposition criticized the nation's nuclear policies as it may bring Iran before the United Nations Security Council and lead to sanctions, ILNA news agency reported Monday.

The spokesman for the MJM faction, Rassoul Montakhabnia, told ILNA President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government had made a "political mistake" by skipping the Europeans in favour of members of the Non-Aligned Movement.

The new Iranian administration has decided to increase nuclear negotiations with the NAM member states as well as Russia and China and sever talks with the European Union trio Britain, France and Germany, the main negotiating partners in the last two years.

The spokesman further said that rhetoric adopted by the Ahmadinejad's government was "too provocative" and eventually led to the latest anti-Iran resolution by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

MJM is one of the leading reformist factions in the country and former president Mohammad Khatami is one of its senior members. Khatami has advocated negotiations with the E.U.

The IAEA approved a resolution Saturday according to which Iran's case would be referred to the U.N. Security Council, if no new developments occurred by the November meeting of the IAEA board.

The Iranian parliament plans to approve a bill which would drastically limit IAEA inspections contradicting the IAEA additional protocol which Iran signed in December 2003.

DPA

Subject: German news