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Ahmadinejad scorns West, domestic critics on nuclear drive
Tehran (AFP) Feb 11, 2008 President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed Western threats on Iran's nuclear programme and launched a bitter tirade on domestic opponents, in a pugnacious speech on Monday marking the Islamic revolution. Ahmadinejad said the West was only "playing with pieces of paper" in seeking further UN sanctions action against Tehran and vowed that Iran would never offer any concessions in the standoff. "Thanks to God, the Iranian nuclear dossier has been closed. The enemies of the Iranian revolution can only play with pieces of paper. They can do nothing more," he told a crowd of hundreds of thousands in central Tehran. The United States and its allies have been working to agree a third UN Security Council sanctions resolution to punish Tehran for its continued nuclear defiance. "The Iranian people will not back down an inch over their right to nuclear energy. They (the world powers) should not make another blunder by voting a new resolution against Iran," said Ahmadinejad. The West fears Iran could use sensitive nuclear technology to make atomic weapons but Tehran insists the drive is peaceful and has pressed on with its nuclear programme. Using one of his favoured rhetorical habits in the speech marking the 29th anniversary of the Islamic revolution, Ahmadinejad asked the crowds if they were ready to surrender on the nuclear issue. "No!" the crowds yelled back at the grinning president. "You should know that the path of the Iranian nation is different from that of those who compromise. The Iranian nation will resist to the end," declared Ahmadinejad. Ahead of parliamentary elections on March 14, the conservative president also launched a blistering attack on his critics at home who he accused of having a "vendetta" and betraying the country over the nuclear issue. "Unfortunately there are some in this country who consider themselves to be its owner and want to control everything," he said, without giving names. "In the nuclear case, there are some who unfortunately who went to enemy and encouraged the enemy. They gave them the information from inside the country." Ahmadinejad accused a European ambassador, whose country he did not name, of meeting Iranians and seeking to to convince them that he was isolated on the nuclear issue. "Unfortunately some have gone along with him... not based on an ignorance of information but on a vendetta against the people." The president has already labelled his opponents as traitors and declared that former nuclear negotiator Hossein Moussavian -- detained briefly last year -- was effectively guilty of spying. Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad announced Iran is to launch two more rockets into space in the next few months, after the firing of a rocket earlier this month sparked international concern. "Two other rockets will be launched so that we can then send a satellite into space," Ahmadinejad said. "We hope that Iran's first home-produced satellite will be launched in the summer," he added, reiterating a prediction made by other Iranian officials. Iran on February 4 said it fired a rocket into space in preparation for the launch of its first home-produced satellite. Iran already has one satellite in space but it was launched and built by Russia. The United States had branded Iran's firing of a rocket into space as "unfortunate" and warned that the move would further isolate the Islamic republic from the international community. The national holiday of the "Glorious Victory of the Islamic Revolution" marks the day on February 11, 1979 when the army refused to continue fighting the anti-shah popular uprising led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The army's decision effectively handed control of the country to Khomeini and spelled the end for the shah's last prime minister Shapur Bakhtiar. Pro-US Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi had left Iran three weeks earlier. "I have come to say that atomic energy is our absolute right. The United States cannot impose its will on us," said Mohammad Reza Abolhassan, 18, a student who attended the rally. sgh-fpn-hif-sjw/txw Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com All about missiles at SpaceWar.com Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
North Korea nuclear and China military programmes a worry: Japan
Munich, Germany (AFP) Feb 10, 2008North Korea remains a nuclear proliferation risk and China's military programme lacks transparency, Japan's Foreign Minister Masahiko Koumura warned here Saturday. |
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