Iran atomic aide warns of retaliation to sanctions

TEHRAN, Oct 18 (Reuters) Iran's chief nuclear negotiator today threatened retaliation -- possibly by suspending international atomic inspections -- if the United Nations imposed sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear programme.

Ali Larijani's comments, quoted by state television, came a day after the European Union backed limited Security Council sanctions against Iran for not halting uranium enrichment, a condition for starting talks on an atomic incentives package.

''Iran will not stand idle if pressured to ignore its nuclear rights. The path of the Security Council, sanctions and illegal (imposition of) hardship is such a path in which the other side should expect a reciprocal act by ... Iran,'' Larijani said.

''The (Iranian) parliament has prepared a plan based on which the inspections of the International Atomic Energy Agency will be suspended in the face of the West's adventurous behaviour,'' he added, according to the television report.

Larijani, whose voice was not broadcast by the television, stopped short of stating outright that IAEA inspections would be halted if the sanctions went through.

Diplomats say France, Britain and Germany plan to put forward a draft Security Council resolution this week providing for graduated sanctions, though details have yet to be agreed.

Measures that have been suggested include travel bans on officials, diplomats and scientists, freezing assets of individuals and firms, and embargoes on the sale of items that could be used in Iran's nuclear and missile programmes.

The United States has taken the hardest line, but Russia and China, both holding vetoes in the Security Council, have been holding back on the scope of sanctions and the speed at which they would be imposed, diplomats say.

The West accuses Iran of seeking to enrich uranium to build atomic bombs, but Tehran insists it only wants to master the technology to make fuel for nuclear power plants.

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