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FM spokesman: US threats no different from terrorists' acts

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, April 17, IRNA -- Spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry Ramin Mehman-Parast said the US threats against some countries was in no way different from the terrorists’ acts targeting defenseless people.

Talking to reporters here Saturday on the sidelines of the 1st International Conference on Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, he pointed to many uses of nuclear technology in peaceful programs and said using nuclear energy was the right of all nations.

He said the present world situation in terms of the use of fossil energy resources made it a must for countries to seek alternative energy resources.

The diplomat further stressed that Iran welcomed any move resulting in reduction or annihilation of nuclear arms.

Underlying that according to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty all countries in possession of nuclear arms should be disarmed and the nuclear energy should be used only for peaceful purposes, he noted that despite the elapse of forty decades since the signing of the NPT, the countries which have nuclear arms failed to take any measures towards this and at the same time the world has been witnessing an arms race.

Saying that arrangements for the present conference started over two years ago when Barack Obama was not the president in the US yet, he said the meeting was after establishment of nuclear security in the world and working out ways to sooth international concerns over access of terrorists to nuclear arms.

He said the US threats were in no way different from the threats to the international security posed by terrorists because both would target defenseless people.

Noting that the world was presently worried about the threats posed to nations by the US, France and a number of other countries, he believed the biggest terrorists were those who threatened nations with use of nuclear weapons.

Mehman-Parast further said it was the duty of the Untied Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency to provide certain facilities and privileges to those countries which possess nuclear know-how.

Asked to comment on allegations that Iran posed a danger to regional security, the Foreign Ministry spokesman stressed there were no reasons for the regional countries to worry about Iran’s nuclear program simply because it was solely for peaceful purposes.

He said Iran was ready to cooperate with regional countries in nuclear areas.

He also said the present event, which he said was taking place in the presence of 60 world countries despite political pressures on them, basically addressed the world nations and the international public opinion and tried to explore frank and realistic ways to non-proliferation of nuclear arms.

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End News / IRNA / News Code 1060552