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GUEST: Arash Norouzi, founder of The Mossadegh Project

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said yesterday that Iran would not retreat from its right to nuclear technology and that a United Nations resolution imposing sanctions on Iran was “invalid.” The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously on December 23 to impose sanctions on Iran’s trade in sensitive nuclear materials and technology. The sanctions are apparently an attempt to stop uranium enrichment work that could produce material that could be used in bombs. The Security Council has given Iran a two-month deadline to suspend its program or face tougher sanctions. Iran’s parliament reacted to the sanctions by passing a bill on today urging the government to “revise” its level of cooperation with the IAEA, the UN’s nuclear agency, and to accelerate its drive to master nuclear technology. According to the New York Times yesterday, the US and its European allies are trying a new strategy to increase the financial and psychological pressure on Iran: “The plan is to use the language of the Security Council resolution to help persuade foreign governments and financial institutions to cut ties with Iranian businesses, individuals in its nuclear and missile programs and, by extension, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.” According to unnamed White House sources, American envoys would soon head abroad to press officials of foreign governments and banks to interpret the Security Council resolution equally aggressively.

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