JURIST - Paper Chase: UN Security Council demands Iran stop nuclear enrichment

[JURIST] The UN Security Council [official website] Wednesday agreed on a statement demanding that Iran immediately suspend its nuclear enrichment program. The statement, which is not legally binding, seeks a report on the extent of Iran's compliance from the International Atomic Energy Agency [official website; JURIST news archive] within 30 days. Watch recorded video of the reading of the statement by the current president of the UN Security Council. Watch recorded video of a briefing by US UN ambassador John Bolton after the meeting.

Iran had condemned [JURIST report] the IAEA's referral of the matter to the Security Council as "unlawful" [JURIST report] and had complained [JURIST report] that it should be compensated for the damage caused "to the development of its science, technology and economy" during the suspension of its program. AP has more. The UN News Center provides additional coverage.

7:35 PM ET - The full text of the Security Council's Presidential Statement on Iran is now available. Its main operative paragraph says:

The Security Council calls upon Iran to take the steps required by the IAEA Board of Governors, notably in the first operative paragraph of its resolution GOV/2006/14, which are essential to build confidence in the exclusively peaceful purpose of its nuclear programme and to resolve outstanding questions, and underlines, in this regard, the particular importance of re-establishing full and sustained suspension of all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development, to be verified by the IAEA.

9:40 PM ET - Iran's representative to the UN insisted in a late-day press conference Wednesday that peaceful development of nuclear energy was within Iran's rights under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty [text] and that Iran had a categorical commitment to its obligations under the Treaty not to develop or stockpile nuclear weapons. Watch recorded video of remarks by Javad Zarif.

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