Iran rejects Sarkozy nuclear claims as “baseless”
Washington, 5 September (IranVNC)—Iran today dismissed as “baseless” allegations by France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy that Tehran’s controversial nuclear program had a military aim.
By: IranVNC
Published: Friday, September 05, 2008
11:00GMT—7:00AM/EST
IRAN – NUCLEAR – SARKOZY
Washington, 5 September (IranVNC)—Iran today dismissed as “baseless” allegations by France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy that Tehran’s controversial nuclear program had a military aim.
“Nuclear weapons have no part in Iran’s defense doctrine,” the semi-official ISNA news agency reported Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hassan Qashqavi as saying. The charges are “baseless”, the report added.
Speaking in Syria yesterday, Sarkozy warned Iran that it is at risk of an Israeli strike if it continues with its nuclear program.
“Iran is taking a major risk by continuing the process of seeking nuclear technology for military ends,” AFP quoted Sarkozy as saying.
Iran insists that its program is purely peaceful and legal under the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty [NPT], rejecting accusations by Western powers that the country is seeking to acquire nuclear arms.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran, along with many other nations, has wanted nuclear disarmament of all nuclear-possessing countries and the destruction of their arsenals,” Qashqavi said.
In an interview earlier this week with Jordan’s al-Haqiqah al-Duwwaliyah newspaper, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA], Mohamed ElBaradei, said that Iran would have to leave the NPT and expel IAEA inspectors before it begins to produce a nuclear weapon.
“Therefore, it [Iran] cannot enrich uranium to the high degree which is needed for the production of a nuclear weapon,” ElBaradei said in remarks published on 2 September.
But ElBaradei warned that if Tehran did take those actions, it would need “a period of time not less than one year” to acquire the quantity of uranium needed to make the highly-enriched uranium to build a nuclear bomb.
Iran has come under three rounds of United Nations Security Council sanctions for refusing to suspend its sensitive uranium enrichment work. Western powers warned last month that they may press for more UN sanctions after Iran failed to respond favorably to a package of incentives offered in return for suspension of its uranium enrichment work.
Sources: ISNA in Persian, Agence France-Presse, al-Haqiqah al-Duwwaliyah in Arabic
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