Iran Leader: No Need For Atomic Bomb

Opening the 16th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement meeting in Tehran, the Iranian Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, reaffirmed the peaceful aspects of its nuclear program, while stressing again the right of Iran to use nuclear power for civilian purposes.

For Iran, faced with pressure from the West because of its program nuclear , the 16th summit of Non-Aligned Countries, held in Tehran, is a platform of choice. In opening the meeting on Thursday, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has not missed the opportunity to ensure that Iran “will never seek to have nuclear weapons.” However, he reiterated that the Islamic Republic will “never give up the Iranian people’s right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.”

The western countries have long suspected Iranian authorities of conducting secret nuclear program for military purposes, a claim that Iran denies. On Wednesday, the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon asked Khamenei to take concrete steps to demonstrate that the Iranian nuclear program was really peaceful.

In his speech, Khamenei has not forgotten to criticize the UN and especially the Security Council, describing this instance as illogical, unfair and as a relic of the past used by the United States to “impose a brutal policy of the world.” “They (the United States) speak of human rights when it is in the interest of the West,” said Khamenei. “They talk of democracy and intervene militarily in other countries,” continued the cleric.