Iran vows to continue nuke program
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-07-02 18:47
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said that his country would
continue uranium enrichment activities, the official IRNA new agency reported on
Saturday.
"The Iranian government and nation have made their decision and undoubtedly
will pass this period with success," Ahmadinejad, who is in the Gambian capital
of Banjul for an African Union summit,told his Ivory Coast counterpart Laurent
Gbagbo on Friday.
Ahmadinejad also condemned some certain "haughty powers" for preventing
countries from exercising their rights."There are signs of bullying powers
behind every cruelty and corruption. They benefit from situations of tension and
conflict,but there are also several signs which indicate that the bullying era
is coming to an end," said Ahmadinejad.
Gbagbo, for his part, supported Iran's nuclear program, saying access to
nuclear energy for a peaceful purpose is an inalienable and legal right of the
Iranian people.
Western powers on Thursday exerted mounting pressure on Iran,asking the
country to formally respond in a week to a six-nation package which demanded
suspension of Iranian uranium enrichment activities.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali
Larijani are scheduled to meet next Wednesday to discuss "ambiguities" in the
package pointed out by Iran.
"We are looking forward to a clear and substantive Iranian response to these
proposals at the planned meeting," foreign ministers of the Group of Eight
countries said in a statement in Moscow.
But Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki immediately responded in New
York that Tehran would not give a response to the proposals before August.
On June 6, Solana offered Iran the six-nation incentive package concerning
the Iranian nuclear issue, which had been agreed on by the five permanent
members of the UN Security Council plus Germany.The proposals include both
incentives aimed at persuading Iranto suspend uranium enrichment and possible
sanctions if Iran does not comply.
The United States has accused Iran of secretly developing nuclear weapons
under a civilian front, a charge categorically denied by
Tehran.
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