Iran is being sanctioned for crimes it didn't commit, official says

Iran is being unlawfully sanctioned for crimes it did not commit, the Iranian semi-official Fars news agency quoted a senior Tehran official on Sunday.

	The Bushehr nuclear power plant, south of Tehran.
	Photo by: Reuters

The United Nations approved a fourth round of sanctions against Iran in early June over accusations that Tehran is seeking to develop atomic weapons. Iran denies its nuclear program is militaristic in nature and says it has a right to conduct uranium enrichment for peaceful purposes.

Washington and other powers accuse Iran of seeking to build a nuclear weapon.

On Sunday, Fars quoted Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast as saying that the UN-led "sanctions and resolutions are illegal, illogical and unfair in principle," adding that "the sanctions and resolutions are based on an illegal approach as our nation is being tried for a crime that it has not committed."

The Iranian official added that Iran Tehran would continue to pursue the "nation's basic rights and will not renounce them in the face of pressures."

On Saturday, U.S. chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen stressed  the need for Turkey to help enforce UN sanctions against Iran aimed at deterring the Islamic Republic from obtaining a nuclear bomb.

Mullen told reporters in the Turkish capital he did not plan to question or rebut Turkey over the vote and welcomed Turkey's stated intention to abide by those sanctions.

Turkey voted against the U.S.-backed sanctions against Iran in June, insisting that its neighbor's nuclear program is peaceful, despite fears that Tehran might be seeking to develop nuclear arms. Turkey has, however, stated that it will abide by the sanctions.

Mullen said that both countries agree that Iran should not achieve a nuclear weapons capability, and need to "do all that we can to ensure that."

Mullen praised Turkey - NATO's sole Muslim member state - for its role in Afghanistan and said the United States would welcome any additional help it can provide.

Turkey currently holds the rotating command of the international peacekeeping force guarding the Afghan capital, while Turkish instructors are training the Afghan army and police force.

"We would like Turkey to sustain all of those efforts, Mullen said. Any additional capabilities that Turkey can provide against the training shortfall, that would certainly be of great help," Mullen said.