Iran Threatens to Quit Nonproliferation Treaty

Iran’s hard-line parliament Sunday threatened to pass legislation that would force the government to withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

The move, which would put Iran in company with North Korea, came as Washington and its allies pressed for a U.N. Security Council vote to outlaw Tehran’s uranium enrichment program.

In a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan read on state-run radio, lawmakers said they would have “no option” but to ask the government to withdraw from the treaty if the U.N. chief and the Security Council “fail in their crucial responsibility to resolve differences peacefully.”

The statement is widely seen as referring to a diplomatic solution, short of a Security Council vote and possible sanctions.

The U.S. is backing attempts by Britain and France to draw up a U.N. resolution that would declare Iran in violation of international law if it does not suspend uranium enrichment -- a process that can produce fuel for nuclear reactors to generate electricity or, if sufficiently intensified, to make atomic weapons.

The Western nations want to invoke Chapter 7 of the U.N. charter, which would allow economic sanctions or military action, if necessary, to force Iran’s compliance. Russia and China, the other two permanent Security Council members -- all of whom have veto power -- oppose such moves.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John R. Bolton, said Sunday that he believed the resolution would move to a vote this week, with or without support from Russia and China. He dismissed the Iranian parliament’s threat, saying it would not deter a U.N. resolution.

“It shows they remain desperate to conceal that their nuclear program is in fact a weapons program,” he said.

The Iranian letter said parliament might pass legislation ordering President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government to review procedures for pulling out of the nuclear treaty, which signatories may do if they decide extraordinary events have jeopardized their “supreme interests.” The withdrawing nation must give fellow treaty members and the U.N. three months’ notice and a detailed explanation.