Iran vows retaliation as UN showdown nears

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Saturday passed a resolution requiring that Tehran be reported to the council for possible sanctions, after Iran failed to convince the world its atomic ambitions were entirely peaceful.

"Unless the resolution is corrected or if its implementation is insisted upon, Iran will be forced to cancel all its voluntary and temporary measures including implementation of the Additional Protocol," said a foreign ministry statement, read out on Iranian state television.

The Additional Protocol to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) allows short-notice intrusive checks of atomic facilities by UN weapons inspectors.

Foremost among Iran's voluntary measures is the suspension of uranium enrichment, a process it has already threatened to restart if sent to New York.

Washington has accused Iran of developing its uranium enrichment program for nuclear warheads, but Tehran insists it needs it only to make fuel for power stations.

On Friday, Iran's IAEA delegation showed some board members two letters saying Iran would begin enriching uranium and end snap inspections if the resolution were passed.

Earlier in the day, Iranian Vice-President Gholamreza Aghazadeh had condemned the IAEA resolution but had stopped short of making any threats, which diplomats had expected.

"This resolution is based on an invalid legal precept, an unjustified technical ground and a misguided political forecast," Aghazadeh told the IAEA's General Conference.

The IAEA board resolution requires that Iran be referred to the Security Council at an unspecified date.

EU diplomats said they expected the board would decide to send its report on Iran's nuclear NPT breaches to the UN Security Council during the agency's next board of governors' meeting in November.