By Yong Soo Heong, NNN-Bernama,
Kuala Lumpur : All countries should be able to use nuclear energy and there should be no restriction whatsoever, says Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
If all countries could use nuclear power, they would not have to face the current sharp increase in crude oil prices as nuclear power was cheap and attractive he said in an interview here Monday.
Ahmadinejad, who is here for the 6th Summit of the Group of Eight Developing Islamic Countries (D-8) Tuesday, said nuclear technology could be applied in the industrial and agricultural sectors to help boost economic development.
However, he said, there were a few Western powers which were opposed to Iran’s quest for nuclear power.
“They are expecting the day will come when our crude oil and gas will be finished. When that happens, they hope to sell these commodities to us at very high prices,” he said, adding that when that happened it would impinge on the sovereignty and independence of existing oil-producing countries.
Ahmadinejad said it was important for countries to properly manage their energy resources and cited the case of Indonesia which at one time was a net exporter of oil but had become a net importer of oil.
He questioned why countries like the United States or Britain, which had crude oil and gas resources, were allowed to develop their nuclear capabilities, while Iran was subjected to all kinds of scrutiny.
Asked on the present situation in the Middle East, he said peace would prevail if only all the occupying forces withdrew from the region.
Asked on recent developments in that region where Iran had been asked to go to the negotiating table with regard to its uranium enrichment programme while there were also threats of military strikes against Iran, he said these were aimed at making Iran go to the negotiating table with pre-conditions.
He said Iran would not bow to such demands and had been used to such psychological warfare from the Western powers.
Ahmadinejad questioned why there was a need for Iran to undergo inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) while some countries in the region were not even subjected to it.
Ahmadinejad said most countries in the world would be opposed to such a world order where a few big powers dictated terms and wanted others to obey them. But, he added, the circumstances of the world had changed and some countries should realise that.
Ahmadinejad said the Middle East region should be left to the countries there to decide for themselves their future and there should not be any occupying force to dictate terms.
On the D-8, Ahmadinejad said Iran was committed to the grouping which he believed had strong potential and influence if they stayed united. There were a number of international issues to be discussed since such matters affected the D-8 members’ economic and cultural affairs.
Describing the D-8 as a young and very good movement, he said Indonesia had done a good job in managing the grouping for the past two years and believed Malaysia would also manage the grouping well as could be seen from the agenda it had prepared for the Kuala Lumpur Summit.
Asked on what improvements he had brought to his people after becoming president in 2005, he said Iranians had been given a lot of opportunities to excel in various fields including science and technology.
For instance, he said, Iran wuld soon send into orbit an Iranian-made satellite which would be launched by a rocket launcher that it had also built itself.