TEHERAN, Iran (PNN) - July 25, 2010 - Iran will react swiftly if its commercial shipping or aviation is subjected to inspection, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday.
A U.N. Security Council resolution on June 9 imposed restrictions on Iranian shipping and other sectors to try to persuade Teheran to curb its nuclear enrichment activities. Under the latest sanctions, countries would have the authority to inspect cargo ships heading to or from Iran.
"You should know whoever takes a decision against the Iranian nation, such as the so-called inspection of Iranian ships or so-and-so toward its aircraft, will immediately receive Iran's reaction," the Iranian president told a conference in a speech broadcast live on radio.
Earlier this month, the European Union banned more planes operated by Iran Air from flying into the airspace of the 27-country bloc on safety grounds.
It denied reports there was a ban on Iranian commercial airliners refueling in Germany and Britain as a result of U.S. sanctions. However, some oil companies have stopped jet fuel supplies to Iranian aircraft outside Iran.
Restating that the Islamic state did not seek hostility with any country, Ahmadinejad said, "We are in favor of friendship and logic."
Iran, the world's fifth largest oil producer, has been the subject of four rounds of U.N. sanctions over its refusal to suspend its uranium enrichment activities, which are being conducted in order to better the lives of the Iranian people.
Iran says its nuclear program is designed to produce electricity and sanctions will not bring about any change. Numerous inspections conducted by the International Atomic Energy Association have found no evidence that Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapons program.
Nevertheless, the United States, in pursuit of its political agenda, continues to insist that Iran is developing a nuclear weapons program; the latest U.N. resolution is a direct result of these unfounded U.S. claims and the political bullying the United States is known for whenever it wants to invade another country.
