Cleric raps West’s sanction campaign

A prominent Iranian cleric has criticized the reaction of the UN Security Council’s permanent members on Iran’s nuclear fuel swap declaration.

Iran, Brazil and Turkey singed a tripartite declaration on May 17, under which Tehran agreed to send 1,200 kg of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey in exchange for 120 kg of 20 percent-enriched nuclear fuel for the Tehran research reactor.

One day after the issuance of the Tehran declaration, the US submitted its draft resolution to impose tougher sanctions against Iran to the UN Security Council, saying it had convinced veto-wielding permanent members China and Russia to join its campaign.

“The P5+1, instead of welcoming the declaration goes to the Security Council and threatens sanctions against Iran,” Tehran’s interim Friday Prayers leader Ayatollah Mohammad Emami Kashani said in his weekly sermon.

“This is a world of barbarity and rapaciousness,” he added.

The US has long been spearheading Western efforts to withhold Iran’s nuclear program, accusing Tehran of efforts to obtain nuclear weapons.

Tehran, however, strongly rejects the allegations, saying its nuclear program is aimed at meeting the country’s growing energy demands and providing its research reactors with fuel.

Ayatollah Kashani expressed hope that the country under the guidance of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, would see greater success and progress.

Ayatollah Emami Kashani also recalled the recommendations by the founder of the Islamic Republic, Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Rouhollah Khomeini, for the statesmen and the Iranian nation not to neglect the poor and the downtrodden.

“The well-to-do and all who have [financial] prowess should think of providing shelters for those who cannot afford one,” he said.