Iran's President Vows to Push Ahead With Nuclear Program
24 May 2007
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has vowed to push ahead with his country's nuclear program, despite a United Nations Security Council deadline Thursday for Tehran to stop enriching uranium.
Iranian media quote Mr. Ahmadinejad as saying if Tehran halts its atomic program even for a moment, then countries opposed to it will have achieved their goals.
He said "enemies" are trying to block Iran from producing peaceful nuclear energy.
Also Thursday, the head of the U.N. nuclear agency, Mohamed Elbaradei, voiced concern about Iran's growing nuclear capacity and said Tehran is three to eight years away from producing a nuclear weapon.
Elbaradei spoke a day after his International Atomic Energy Agency issued a report saying Iran has defied international demands by expanding uranium enrichment - a process that can make fuel for nuclear weapons.
The IAEA also said its ability to monitor Iran's nuclear program has been hurt by a lack of access. Iran says there are no obstacles for legal IAEA inspections of Tehran's nuclear facilities.
U.S. officials say Iran could face more U.N. sanctions for ignoring the latest Security Council deadline to stop enriching uranium. Iran is already under limited sanctions for ignoring earlier Council resolutions.
The United States and its allies accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons. Iran says its atomic program is intended to produce electricity.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
