Senior Iranian national security official Javad Vaeedi in Vienna. (Reuters)

Vienna, March 8 (Reuters): Iran warned the US today it could inflict “harm and pain” to match whatever punishment Washington persuaded the UN Security Council to dole out for Tehran’s refusal to give up atomic research.

“So if the US wishes to choose that path, let the ball roll,” senior Iranian national security official Javad Vaeedi said. Iran, the world’s number four oil provider, also said it would review its oil export policy should the Security Council tackle its case, which EU powers said was now inevitable as Tehran had flouted demands to prove it was not secretly after atomic bombs.

“The US may have the power to cause harm and pain but it is also susceptible to harm and pain,” Vaeedi said.

Reacting to Iran’s statement, the White House rejected Iran’s threats as provocative. “We’ve made it very clear that Iran must not be allowed to engage in any enrichment and processing activity within its own territories,” White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.

Tehran and Washington, arch-foes since Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution, clashed at a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s governing board called to consider an IAEA report that says Iran is accelerating nuclear research.

The report by IAEA director Mohamed ElBaradei, to be sent to the Security Council later, will form part of the basis for any UN action. The UN agency’s board decided a month ago to send Iran’s nuclear dossier to the council, as long as it deferred any measures until after ElBaradei’s report.

US ambassador Gregory Schulte told the board “the time has now come for the council to act” as Iran had defied a February 4 IAEA resolution to cease trying to master technology to produce fuel for nuclear power plants or, potentially, bombs.

He said the top world body’s approach should be “incremental” in consultation with all its 15 members.

“(The council) should emphasise that Iran will face consequences” if it does not heed world appeals, Schulte added.

A senior EU diplomat said the council was due to convene next week on Iran. But the option of sanctions mooted by Washington faces formidable resistance from Russia and China. The first step is likely to be a “presidential statement” reinforcing IAEA calls on Iran to suspend all nuclear research and stop stonewalling the nuclear watchdog’s investigations.

The council’s five permanent, veto-wielding powers are the US, Britain, France, Russia and China. Moscow and Beijing share the West’s wish to deny Iran nuclear know-how but oppose any steps towards sanctions that would jeopardise their lucrative energy investments in Iran.

Winning consensus even for targeted sanctions such as travel bans on Iranian leaders could be a slow struggle given non-western resentment that Iran is being singled out while nuclear proliferators such as Pakistan and Israel, all with good ties to the West, are not dealt with similarly.

Iran insists it wants only nuclear-generated electricity but hid atomic work from the IAEA for 18 years. Its recent calls for Israel’s destruction have heightened alarm in the West.

Asked whether the Islamic Republic could use an “oil weapon”, Vaeedi said: “We will not (do so now), but if the situation changes, we will have to review our oil policies.” Vaeedi said Iran remained opened to a negotiated deal, but added: “In any case, we will continue to exercise our (nuclear) research and development activities based on our right.”

Iran has accused the US of having orchestrated the IAEA move to report it to the Security Council as part of a US policy of “regime change”.