Iranian presidential adviser rejects new UN sanctions proposal as ‘illegitimate’

Iran calls new UN sanctions push ‘illigitimate’

TEHRAN, Iran — A top adviser to Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has rejected a new U.N. sanctions proposal over its disputed nuclear program as “illegitimate.”

The United States and its allies have won crucial support from Russia and China for a draft Security Council resolution seeking to impose harsher penalties against Iran for its refusal to halt uranium enrichment.

Presidential adviser Mojtaba Hashemi Samareh was quoted by state TV’s website Wednesday as saying the draft was an effort to undermine a deal brokered by Turkey and Brazil.

Under that deal, Iran would ship much of its low-enriched uranium abroad. But that has not eased concerns in the West that Iran’s atomic program has military dimensions. Iran insists the nuclear program is peaceful.