Jalili: Iran Not after N. Bomb

Former Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) and negotiator Saeed Jalili underlined the peaceful nature of the country’s nuclear program, and said Tehran is not seeking nuclear weapons.
Iran is not seeking a nuclear bomb and its nuclear activities are for peaceful purposes, Jalili, also the former chief nuclear negotiator, reiterated in the Southeastern province of Kerman on Thursday.

He underlined that according to the Islamic teachings, production and use of nuclear bombs are Haram (religiously forbidden).

In relevant remarks on Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif repeated the country’s opposition to the proliferation of atomic weapons, and underlined that Tehran is using nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

“We are ready to prove to the world that we have never been looking for nuclear weapons,” Zarif said in Vienna in a ceremony held to praise the Austrian and Iranian physicians who treated Iran’s chemically wounded victims of the Iraqi-imposed war (1980-1988).

“Today I have come from negotiations with negotiators whose countries claim to be against WMDs while they themselves were supporters of such kinds of weapons in 1980s and this is one the bitterest jokes of the world,” the Iranian foreign minister said after holding two days of negotiations with the world powers in Vienna.

Iran, a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), has on many occasions called for the removal of all weapons of mass destruction from across the globe.

The UN General Assembly approved a draft resolution proposed by Iran on nuclear disarmament in October 2009 amid strong opposition by the US, Britain, France, Israel and a number of western countries.

The resolution ratified in the first committee of the UN General Assembly calls on all nuclear countries to annihilate their nuclear weapons under the supervision of international bodies.

More than 100 countries, including non-nuclear members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), voted for the resolution.

The resolution also urges Israel to join the NPT and allow the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to inspect its nuclear installations.