Ahmadinejad: Age of nukes is over

Iran’s president says Tehran rejects nuclear weapons, as both immoral and unpractical tools that powers build, stockpile and use to threaten others.

“The age of the nuclear bomb, the worst and ugliest weapon known to man is over. We reject atomic weapons both in moral and practical terms,” Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a press conference in New York on Tuesday afternoon.

“We believe those who build, store and use nuclear weapons to threaten others are committing the ugliest deed of all,” he added.

Ahmadinejad described Washington’s decision to disclose the number of its nuclear warheads as a step forward, but asked the US administration whether it took pride in possessing such destructive power.

“Just two bombs created that atrocity in two Japanese cities. Now do you think it is a source of pride to own 5,000 new generation warheads with greater destructive potential?” he asked.

Ahmadinejad said US nuclear weapons were a global threat, especially to the people in countries where they are stored.

He also commented on remarks by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon about the need for Iran to” restore trust within the international community on the peaceful nature of its nuclear program.”

Ahmadinejad said if the UN headquarters were in Tehran and Iran held veto powers at the Security Council, Ban would not have spoken as he did on Monday.

He pointed out that Iran’s atomic activities were under the full supervision of the UN nuclear watchdog and said that it was not up to Iran to prove its innocence.

“The US government claims that Iran’s nuclear work has diverted from the peaceful path. We ask, ‘What evidence do you have to prove that,’ and they say ‘We have no proof, but we are sure that you have deviated, you prove otherwise.’ How can we move forward with such logic,” asked Ahmadinejad.

The Iranian president was in New York to take part in the UN nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference.