Cleric Warns US, EU: Iran Has Nuclear Rights
Jim Kouri, CPP
August 21, 2006
A well respected Iranian cleric claims that Iran won't give up its right to peaceful nuclear technology. He warned that Iran is prepared to defend that right "to the last drop of blood."
Ahmad Khatami, Tehren's Prayer Leader, made his remarks in a speech to thousands of worshipers, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Khatami was quoted as saying that all parties and political wings in the country were unanimous over the government's efforts to defend Iran's "nuclear rights".
"Westerners should know that in the case of Iran's nuclear energy, they are not facing a party and wing, rather they are encountered by a nation which has risen up to defend its inalienable rights to the last drop of its blood," Khatami told the worshipers.
Tehran is working to build nuclear fuel cycle, which necessitates a uranium enrichment process. It's also a process able to produce material for nuclear weapons. The European Union has demaned that the Iranians stop working on nuclear fuel cycle construction. The EU is attempting to get Iran to sign on to a Russian proposal, which lets Iran conduct uranium conversion activities in exchange for the country's transfer of its enrichment process to the Russians.
It is this measure preventing the Iranian government from obtaining nuclear technology crucial to making atom bombs. So far, the Iranians have rejected the proposal.
The United States, based on intelligence reports, continues to claim that Iran is indeed developing nuclear weapons secretly, a charge rejected by Iranian officials as "politically motivated."
Ahmad Khatami, Tehren's Prayer Leader, made his remarks in a speech to thousands of worshipers, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Khatami was quoted as saying that all parties and political wings in the country were unanimous over the government's efforts to defend Iran's "nuclear rights".
"Westerners should know that in the case of Iran's nuclear energy, they are not facing a party and wing, rather they are encountered by a nation which has risen up to defend its inalienable rights to the last drop of its blood," Khatami told the worshipers.
Tehran is working to build nuclear fuel cycle, which necessitates a uranium enrichment process. It's also a process able to produce material for nuclear weapons. The European Union has demaned that the Iranians stop working on nuclear fuel cycle construction. The EU is attempting to get Iran to sign on to a Russian proposal, which lets Iran conduct uranium conversion activities in exchange for the country's transfer of its enrichment process to the Russians.
It is this measure preventing the Iranian government from obtaining nuclear technology crucial to making atom bombs. So far, the Iranians have rejected the proposal.
The United States, based on intelligence reports, continues to claim that Iran is indeed developing nuclear weapons secretly, a charge rejected by Iranian officials as "politically motivated."
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