Iran vows to "Punish India"

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The Iran government, under tremendous public pressure to act against the countries that had voted against, has also decided to write formal letters of objection to the countries that voted for the resolution. It was very apparent from the first formal reference to India by the Iran government that it had taken strong objection to New Delhi's failure to inform it of the decision.

"Punish India" was the call from Iran's Majlis Energy Committee chief Kamal Daneshyar, the first salvo against New Delhi from a traditional friend. Sources spoke of a high-level of dismay and anger in Tehran against the Manmohan Singh government for supporting the EU-3 resolution at the IAEA.

Mr Daneshyar's remarks, not bound by government bureaucracy, are indicative of the mood within Iran with Majlis Energy Committee chief Kamal Daneshyar, the first salvo against New Delhi from a traditional friend. Sources spoke of a high level of dismay and anger in Tehran against the Manmohan Singh government for supporting the EU-3 resolution at the IAEA.

Mr Daneshyar's remarks, not bound by government bureaucracy, are indicative of the mood within Iran with the Tehran Times quoting him as saying, "Britain, Germany and France should be omitted from the list of economic ties with Iran." This, he said would be a response to those countries "that backstab despite having major economic ties with Iran." He added, "among the countries on the list that should be punished is India." New Delhi is currently negotiating a $7-billion gas pipeline with Iran, with the government here insisting that its anti-vote will not impact adversely on this project.

The Tehran Times known to be close to the government reported, "India danced to the US tune at the IAEA board of governors meeting, despite having signed a contract with Tehran to import Iranian natural gas." The Iranian government is now faced with volatile public opinion from within, that is reflected in the local newspapers calling upon a review of economic ties with the countries that supported the EU resolution. In fact, reports now suggest that the majority of members of the influential Iranian Majlis have signed a petition urging the government to back out of the additional protocol allowing surprise IAEA checks on its nuclear facilities.

Foreign secretary Shyam Saran, fielded by the government to defend the Indian vote, claimed that relations with Iran were not going to be affected. This is not the view coming out of Tehran with the influential Majlis members demanding a strong response from the government against the countries that voted for the EU resolution. The focus, presently is on what the newspapers there describe as the "European Big Three" with pressure building up to suspend economic relations with Britain, Germany and France as well as countries like India.



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