Tehran, Sep 17 (DPA) Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said that Western powers had no justification to impose sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programmes.
“The West is not capable to impose sanctions on Iran. There is no justification for that, as we have done nothing wrong,” Ahmadinejad said Sunday in an interview with the Iranian satellite network Jame Jam.
“The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has confirmed that no wrongdoing has been found in Iran’s nuclear programmes, and we in return are willing to continue our cooperation (with the International Atomic Energy Agency).”
Ahmadinejad said that Western powers could not establish international bodies and related regulations “and then undermine the same bodies and violate the same regulations”, referring to the Vienna-based IAEA and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to which Iran is a member and signatory.
“We have gained nuclear know-how, reached enrichment at industrial scale, and the whole world has already acknowledged our achievements in peaceful nuclear technology, except a few countries which still want to expose their superpower touch,” he said, referring to the US and France.
The president reiterated that the Iranian nation would never give in to Western pressure to suspend its uranium enrichment programme.
Ahmadinejad had earlier this week called on the West to “stop playing games” and acknowledge Iran’s right to pursue nuclear technology and promised in return Iran’s readiness to reply to international concern.
The nuclear dispute should be settled within the IAEA “as other channels would just further complicate the issue”, said Ahmadinejad.
Iran and the IAEA agreed last month on a plan of action that is meant to remove all technical ambiguities surrounding Iran’s nuclear projects and serve as the basis for a political settlement between Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani and European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana.