“At the present time, many of the countries that seek to impede the Islamic Republic of Iran’s progress, have nuclear bombs themselves, and have also equipped the fabricated Zionist regime (Israel) with nuclear bombs, but they continue to say that all options are on the table against Iran,” Ahmadinejad said in a ceremony marking the National Nuclear Technology Day on Sunday, IRNA reported.
He criticized the West’s political approach toward the nuclear programs of different nations and said, “Many countries in the region possess nuclear bombs … but they are not being mentioned and no one is worried about them.”
The Iranian chief executive further said that the enemies have pooled their resources to stop Iran’s scientific progress, adding, however, that they are wrong to think that will be able to stop the country’s technological progress even by assassinating Iranian scientists.
The president stressed that the Iranian people have defended their dignity by insisting on their nuclear rights.
The United States, Israel, and some of their allies accuse Tehran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear energy program.
Iran refutes such allegations, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
Unlike Iran, Israel is a non-signatory to the NPT and continues to defy international calls to join the treaty.
Israel, which is widely believed to possess between 200 to 400 nuclear warheads, maintains a policy of deliberate ambiguity over its nuclear work.
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Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has lashed out at nuclear-armed Western countries for pressuring the Islamic Republic over its nuclear energy program.
News ID 181679
