Khamenei Says Iran Committed to Nuclear Program

Khaleej Times Online:

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has vowed that Iran will continue with its controversial nuclear programme, telling a prayer service in Tehran on Friday that the government would not bow to US pressure. “The Iranian government and the Iranian nation will never ever bow to pressure by the United States or any other states over its nuclear technology ambitions,” Khamenei said in remarks carried live on state television. READ MORE

The Iranian leader, who has the final say on all state affairs, further said that although Iran would continue diplomatic efforts to resolve the issue it would not accept discrimination over which countries were allowed to have nuclear technology and which not.

He said that European opposition to Iran’s nuclear projects stemmed from political pressure by the United States. On their own, European nations understood Iran’s legitimate right, as a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to develop a civil nuclear programme.

Insisting that his country’s nuclear development was solely for peaceful purposes, Khameni said US opposition to Iran’s nuclear activities was an effort by Washington to deviate public attention from its own failures in Iraq.