TEHRAN, Sept 27: Iran threatened on Tuesday to use trade ties to punish countries that voted against it at the UN atomic watchdog. Officials said they were particularly shocked by India’s backing for an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) resolution passed on Saturday requiring that Iran be reported in the future to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions.

But Tehran reassured New Delhi, hoping to sate a voracious appetite for energy through deals with the world’s second biggest holder of oil and natural gas, that it would not take any hasty actions against India.

“We will reconsider our economic cooperation with those countries that voted against us,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters at a weekly news conference.

“India’s vote came as a great surprise to us,” he added.

India was among the 22 out of 35 delegations that voted against Iran at the IAEA.

But Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said Iran was willing to continue its “friendly” relationship with India.

“We should not lose a friend because of one incident,” Mr Larijani told reporters. “We will have talks with India over Iran’s nuclear ambitions in the future.” —Reuters

Jawed Naqvi adds from New Delhi: Indian Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar ruled out disruption of plans by India to import gas from Iran, both as liquefied natural gas and as piped gas via Pakistan.

“No, I do not believe current development would in anyway adversely affect the progress made on the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline or the import of liquefied natural gas (LNG),” Mr Aiyar told reporters here.

India has signed an agreement with Iran to import 5 million tonnes of LNG per annum beginning 2009-10. The agreement is yet to be ratified by the board of National Iranian Oil Company, the firm that will execute it.

“I am aware that NIOC has not yet ratified the LNG deal,” Mr Aiyar told reporters but anticipated no problems on that front.

Iran, Pakistan and India are continuing negotiations on the proposed 2,400-km pipeline and hope to finalise a tripartite agreement by the year end for the project to take-off.

Diplomats involved in the deal, however, told Dawn that the pipeline project would become nearly impossible to carry out should the UN Security Council impose sanctions against Tehran.

“It may seem remote, and we hope it doesn’t happen, but the possibility exists for the Security Council to impose restrictions on trade with Iran,” one senior diplomat said. “We see no way then that anyone would finance a seven and half billion dollar project against international pressure.”

Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran on Tuesday sought to assuage Iran’s hurt and explained to its ambassador S. Z. Yaghoubi that New Delhi’s vote for the resolution was aimed at averting a major confrontation between Iran and the international community.

New Delhi had last week along with the US and EU voted on a resolution that would refer Iran to the UN Security Council for sanctions if Tehran did not abandon its nuclear programme.

Mr Yaghoubi conveyed Iran’s “sense of deep hurt and disappointment” at India’s vote against it in the International Atomic Energy Agency. He slammed the West-backed resolution that could refer its case to the UN Security Council as “unjust” and “politically motivated”.

Mr Yaghoubi told Mr Saran that Tehran didn’t expect New Delhi to vote against another non-aligned country.