Iran is to build two more nuclear power plants, its new foreign minister announced today, and contended that there would be serious ‘‘consequences’’ if the Islamic regime is referred for possible sanctions to the UN Security Council over its nuclear fuel drive.The comments came as Iran’s new president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, prepared to travel to New York to address the United Nation General Assembly on Wednesday at its opening summit meeting. In his first press conference since taking office, Manouchehr Mottaki also reiterated Iran’s refusal to resume the full freeze of uranium processing it observed during confidence talks with the European Union earlier this year.‘‘There is no question of returning to a new suspension at Isfahan,’’ Mottaki told reporters, referring to Iran’s uranium ore conversion plant.‘‘There is no legal basis to send the dossier to the Security Council. This would be a political move. We do not see a serious sign that this will happen. It is natural that such an event will have consequences,but right now I do not want to go into what the repercussions would be,’’ he said.Iran has threatened to withdraw from the non-proliferation treaty and to bar inspectors from its nuclear sites if its case is sent to the Security Council. ‘‘Referring the case to the Security Council would be a lose-lose game, and we would prefer that this game does not happen,’’ Mottaki said today. ‘‘We see a win-win situation, that is where the EU and international community have confidence and the Islamic Republic of Iran reaches its legitimate right.”Iran’s decision last month to resume conversion, the precursor to uranium enrichment, has scuttled talks with Britain, France and Germany aimed at winning guarantees that Iran’s nuclear programme is peaceful.
