Agence France Presse – One of Iran’s main exiled opposition groups called Thursday for the United Nations to impose immediate sanctions on Tehran, as a UN deadline for the regime to halt its enrichment of uranium expired.
Speaking at a rally of Iranian exiles a block away from the United Nations, National Council of Resistance of Iran leader Maryam Rajavi said talks had failed to stop Iran’s nuclear programme and called for action without delay.
"The international community and, in particular, the UN Security Council must strongly condemn the Mullahs’ regime not only because of its efforts to obtain a nuclear bomb but also for its crimes against the Iranian people," she said.
"The Security Council should impose diplomatic, arms and oil sanctions on the regime," she added, according to an English transcript of her speech.
Around 150 Iranian exiles were at the rally, waving flags and banners labelling President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a "nuclear terrorist" and accusing his regime of mounting rights abuses in Iran and interference in Iraq.
Across the road, the International Atomic Energy Agency submitted a report saying that Iran had not suspended uranium enrichment but that it had found no "concrete proof" that Iran’s nuclear program was of a military nature.
The United Nations was not expected to take any immediate action against Iran pending talks with Tehran next week.
