Iran remains on its nuclear path
Source: Agencies |
June 17, 2010, Thursday
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Print Edition
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IRAN stepped up its nuclear defiance yesterday by endorsing plans to boost its uranium enrichment and to build four new facilities for atomic medical research - less than a week after the latest United Nations sanctions.
The series of announcements and sharp comments by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who said the West must come to Iran like a "polite child" in any possible nuclear talks, could encourage calls for more economic pressure against the Islamic republic.
European Union foreign ministers agreed earlier this week to consider tighter sanctions for Iran's refusal to halt uranium enrichment.
United States lawmakers may also press for additional embargoes after last week's UN Security Council sanctions.
Ahmadinejad said he would soon announce new conditions for talks with the West.
But first, he wanted to punish world powers for imposing sanctions on Tehran and added Iran would not make "one iota of concessions."
"You showed bad temper, reneged on your promise and again resorted to devilish manners," he said of the powers that imposed sanctions.
"We set conditions so that, God willing, you'll be punished a bit and sit at the negotiating table like a polite child," he told a crowd during a visit to the central Iranian town of Shahr-e-Kord. His speech was broadcast live on state TV.
The West and other nations are worried Iran will eventually develop the capacity for nuclear weapons. Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful energy production and research.
Iranian Parliamentary Speaker Ali Larijani said lawmakers backed the government's push to enrich uranium at a higher level since earlier this year as a response to "bullying countries."
Iran's nuclear chief said yesterday there were plans to build four new medical research reactors, including one "more powerful" than the main facility: an aging 5-megawatt US-made research unit operating in Tehran.
Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi said the new research reactor was for radioactive isotopes for medical needs.
The series of announcements and sharp comments by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who said the West must come to Iran like a "polite child" in any possible nuclear talks, could encourage calls for more economic pressure against the Islamic republic.
European Union foreign ministers agreed earlier this week to consider tighter sanctions for Iran's refusal to halt uranium enrichment.
United States lawmakers may also press for additional embargoes after last week's UN Security Council sanctions.
Ahmadinejad said he would soon announce new conditions for talks with the West.
But first, he wanted to punish world powers for imposing sanctions on Tehran and added Iran would not make "one iota of concessions."
"You showed bad temper, reneged on your promise and again resorted to devilish manners," he said of the powers that imposed sanctions.
"We set conditions so that, God willing, you'll be punished a bit and sit at the negotiating table like a polite child," he told a crowd during a visit to the central Iranian town of Shahr-e-Kord. His speech was broadcast live on state TV.
The West and other nations are worried Iran will eventually develop the capacity for nuclear weapons. Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful energy production and research.
Iranian Parliamentary Speaker Ali Larijani said lawmakers backed the government's push to enrich uranium at a higher level since earlier this year as a response to "bullying countries."
Iran's nuclear chief said yesterday there were plans to build four new medical research reactors, including one "more powerful" than the main facility: an aging 5-megawatt US-made research unit operating in Tehran.
Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi said the new research reactor was for radioactive isotopes for medical needs.
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