Iran Says Does Not "Give a Damn" About UN ResolutionApril 28, 2006
Reuters
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's president said on Friday his country would pay no attention to international calls to halt its nuclear work, hours before the U.N. atomic watchdog reports on whether Tehran has met U.N. Security Council demands.
Photo: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad greets the crowd as he begins his speech in city of Zanjan in this April 27, 2006 file photo. Ahmadinejad said on April 28 that his country would pay no attention to international calls to halt its nuclear work. (REUTERS / IRNA)
"Those who want to prevent Iranians from obtaining their right, should know that we do not give a damn about such resolutions," Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a rally in northwest Iran, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Mohamed ElBaradei, chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is expected to tell the council and the agency's board on Friday that Iran has not stopped enriching uranium or fully answered IAEA queries as the U.N. body asked a month ago.
The West accuses Iran of pursuing a civilian nuclear programme as a cover to acquire atomic bombs. Tehran denies it.
"Enemies think that by ... threatening us, launching psychological warfare or ... imposing embargos they can dissuade our nation to obtain nuclear technology," Ahmadinejad said in the town of Khorramdarreh, in Zanjan province.
"Whether enemies like it or not, Iran is a nuclear state. Obtaining nuclear technology is a national demand," he said.
Iran said this month it had for the first time enriched uranium to the level used in power stations and vowed to pursue large-scale enrichment.
Ahmadinejad also said the Islamic Republic's nuclear programme posed no threat to international peace and security, as Western leaders contend.
"If this technology is bad, why do you (Western countries) not give it up? ... We think it is good and all nations should have it."
"CONSEQUENCES"
Influential former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani urged the West to think twice before seeking a U.N. resolution on Iran.
"They should be careful and think about its consequences," Rafsanjani told worshippers at Friday prayers at Tehran University. "I am saying seriously: do not create problems for us, the region and others."
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's most powerful figure, said on Wednesday Iran would strike at U.S. interests worldwide if it was attacked by the United States.
Washington is keeping military options open in case diplomacy fails to curb Tehran's nuclear programme.
Rafsanjani, a key adviser to Khamenei, said dialogue was the best way to resolve the dispute.
"Surely Iranians want to build confidence. This issue should be resolved through talks," he said in his speech, broadcast live on state radio.
France, Britain and Germany tried unsuccessfully in 2-1/2 years of talks with Iran to persuade it to drop its nuclear fuel-making programme in return for economic incentives.
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