Violation of Iran’s Nuclear Rights Unacceptable: Ahmadinejad

Violation of Iran’s nuclear rights unacceptable: Ahmadinejad

TEHRAN, July 21 (Xinhua) — Iranian President-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday that he would never allow Iran’s legal rights on peaceful use of nuclear technology to be violated, the official IRNA news agency reported.

“My government will never accept the right of the Iranian nation to enjoy nuclear energy for civilian purposes enshrined by the Non- Proliferation Treaty be violated,” Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying.

The president-elect made the statement in his first public speech since being elected in the eastern city Mashhad, reported IRNA.

Ahmadinejad stressed that the nuclear states have no right to deprive developing nations of civilian application of nuclear energy.

“The developing nations are entitled to use nuclear energy for civilian utility in line with international conventions. The world will not accept double standard from nuclear states.”

He reaffirmed that Iran would never pursue weapons of mass destruction.

Ahmadinejad, a hardliner winning a landslide victory in Iran’s ninth presidential election in late June, will come into power on Aug. 4.

The United States has accused Iran of developing nuclear weapons secretly, a charge rejected by Tehran as politically motivated.

Iran, however, insists that its nuclear program is fully peaceful, saying it will never give up legal rights.

Meanwhile, the European Union has been trying to persuade Iran to give up its efforts to build nuclear reactors in exchange for a package of economic and technological incentives.