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AJC Letter to Foreign Ministers on Iran AJC sent the following letter to the 27 foreign ministers of the European Union and the foreign ministers of Australia, Canada, Japan, Norway and Switzerland, calling upon their governments to take additional measures against Iran.
January 8, 2007 Your Excellency: The American Jewish Committee continues to be profoundly concerned about the threat that Iran's regime poses to global peace and security. Most alarming is Iran's aggressive pursuit of nuclear weapons capability. As you know, on December 23, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 1737, calling on Iran, inter alia, to suspend without further delay "all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development," and "work on heavy water-related projects, including the construction of a research reactor moderated by heavy water." The resolution, like resolution 1696 before it, was adopted under Article 41 of Chapter VII of the UN Charter, making it binding. Regrettably, Iran has already defied the resolution, indicating that it has no intention of complying with its provisions. According to the Iranian news agency IRNA, President Ahmadinejad said: "The Iranian nation will not accept the resolution. The resolution is politically motivated." He added: "The Security Council ratified the illegal resolution against the Iranian nation under the US and British pressure." He further said: "We will soon celebrate final victory in the nuclear domain and will not give up on our rights even one iota." Moreover, the Speaker of the Iranian Majlis, Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel, said: "There is no doubt the resolution was illegal. The science of law has been turned into a plaything by certain powers. Iran will not accept the resolution. We rebuke those who have passed the resolution." The Majlis also ratified an urgent measure asking the government to speed up Iran's nuclear activities and make a revision in the country's cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency to meet the interests of the nation. In view of Iran's intransigence, and the compelling threat it poses to international peace and security, we respectfully call upon your government, together with other like-minded governments, to consider further measures that would compel Iran to abide by its international obligations. Such measures could include cutting ties with Iranian businesses, denying assistance to and investment in Iran's oil industry, and, indeed, barring any commercial or government involvement, including bank transactions, that might assist Iran's nuclear and missile programs. Iran has defied two Security Council resolutions and rejected every effort for a diplomatic solution. It is high time, we believe, for the international community to take further measures. Respectfully,
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