Statement of Intentions
United Nations position: The permanent Security Council members, including Russia and China, have declared their intentions to prevent Iran from acquiring weapons of mass destruction because of its belligerent rhetoric towards the West and Israel since the Iranian Revolution. In principle, the UN Security Council (UNSC) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have confirmed Iran’s right to peaceful nuclear technology in conformity with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Iranian stance: Iran said it wanted to build a network of nuclear power plants with a capacity for 20,000 MW by 2020. Iran has referred to its inalienable right to develop nuclear technology for civilian and peaceful purposes under the NPT to justify its position. The Supreme Leader of Iran has stated in a fatwa that possession and use of nuclear weapons is "anti-Islamic". Iranian officials have insisted that they have no intention to develop nuclear weapons. This point has been strongly questioned by the West because uranium enrichment is a dual-use technology.
Iran has dismissed the sanctions and said it did not intend to suspend its enrichment programme. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told the Security Council after the vote: "The world must know – and it does – that even the harshest political and economic sanctions or other threats are far too weak to coerce the Iranian nation to retreat from their legal and legitimate demands." He added: "Suspension is neither an option nor a solution".
Non-Aligned Movement's position: Iran has reminded the Security Council of the Non-Aligned Movement's support for its civilian nuclear programme and its opposition to any military attack against Iran. This declaration by the Non-Aligned Movement, at the summit level, represents 118 countries.
Read more about this topic: United Nations Security Council Resolution 1747
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