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Rafsanjani terms US`, big powers` accusations as baseless

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, June 30, IRNA -- Expediency Council Chairman Akbar Hashemi 
Rafsanjani here Wednesday said the accusations made by the United 
States and big powers against Iran`s peaceful nuclear activities has 
no basis in fact. 
Addressing an ongoing seminar to assess the destructive 
consequences of the use of chemicals and other weapons of mass 
destruction (WMDs), Rafsanjani said the issues raised by the big 
powers against Iran`s nuclear programs are stifling the country`s 
efforts to acquire needed scientific and technical knowhow. 
"Iran is itself a victim of chemical weapons. Those who accuse us 
of trying to acquire weapons of mass destruction are themselves 
guilty of the offense and are just looking for a scapegoat." 
He further said that the enemies of the Islamic Revolution and 
those who cannot accept the success of the Islamic Republic are 
simply using the nuclear issue to tarnish the image of the country. 
He criticized the destructive weapons competition between the US and 
the big powers. 
"Undoubtedly, chemical weapons and other weapons of mass 
destruction, as with modern industrial and technical innovations, 
have their origin in the West," he stressed. 
The EC chairman further lashed out at the "deadly silence" of 
world powers and human rights organizations towards the use of 
chemical weapons by the former Ba`ath regime of Saddam against 
Iranian soldiers, stressing the need to expose the double standards of
those who claim to be defenders of human rights. 
"The world powers gave the greenlight to the enemies of the 
Islamic fighters and encouraged Saddam`s regime in its crimes against 
us," Rafsanjani said, adding that it was the big powers that armed 
Saddam with dangerous weapons to commit his crimes. 
He said that all the research that have been conducted so far on 
how to cope or deal with the consequences of chemical weapons have 
proved inadequate, and called on researchers to conduct more 
scientific studies on this vital subject. 
He recalled a project wherein Iranian scientists were to study 
the consequences of chemical weapons and offer the knowledge gained 
to help victims of weapons of mass destruction. 
He stressed that seminars of this kind which aim to expose the 
disastrous consequences of using WMDs need to take into account the 
legal and political aspects of the issue in their research. 
2327/2321/1432