TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday dismissed any new U.N. sanctions resolution as "a torn piece of paper" that would not stop Tehran's nuclear work, the official IRNA news agency reported.
U.S., British, French, German, Russian and Chinese diplomats at the United Nations have reached a tentative deal on imposing fresh sanctions on Iran and hope to introduce the measure at the Security Council on Thursday, providing their governments agree.
"Issuing such torn pieces of paper ... will not have an impact on Iranian nation's will," IRNA quoted Ahmadinejad as telling a rally in central Iran.
An earlier sanctions resolution passed by the Security Council in December was derided by Ahmadinejad in similar terms.
Senior Iranian leaders, including the country's most powerful figure Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have all ruled out halting uranium enrichment, which can produce fuel for use either in nuclear bombs or civilian power stations.
But moderate Iranian politicians have blamed Ahmadinejad's defiant rhetoric for pushing Iran toward international isolation and want a less confrontational approach.
Two prominent Iranian reform parties have urged the government to suspend enrichment to preserve what they call the national interest, a reference to avoiding isolation that could hurt the economy. But officials brush off economic worries.
Lets hope for the sake of the world that these reform parties have the political capital to rein in the mad mullahs in Iran. Iran is a key player in the middle east. They support terrorist activities in Lebabon, Syria and Iraq. They have the ability to play a destabalizing role in the region, which, given the worlds dependence on oil, has a destabalizing effect on the world.
The problem is that Ahmadinejad's rhetoric and defiance has put him on a collision course with the world. When U.S., British, French, German, Russian and Chinese diplomats all agree on something, you know it must be important.
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